


Blushing

by alvares715



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Blushing, F/M, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:46:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 27,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26715442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alvares715/pseuds/alvares715
Summary: Marinette unknowingly reveals her crush to Adrien.Set after the events of "Miracle Queen."
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 50
Kudos: 349





	1. The Break Up

It was the last Saturday before the new school year was set to start. Every Saturday morning, Marinette Dupain-Cheng would go to her boyfriend Luka Couffaine's houseboat to watch band practice. Her friends and classmates would all go to listen to the music and hang out with each other. She split the time between chatting with her best friend Alya Cesaire and watching the band.

Luka was playing the guitar. His sister, Juleka, was playing bass. Marinette's classmates Ivan and Rose were playing the drums and singing lead vocals, respectively. And over on the keyboard was...

Marinette sighed as she looked over at Adrien Agreste, her friend and classmate. Besides being attractive, and rich, and famous, Adrien was also super nice and caring. That's why she loves... I mean, used to love him so much. She spent the entire previous school year trying to work up the courage to express her feelings to him, but she was too late. He started dating someone else before she ever got the chance to tell him.

Kagami Tsurugi was his fencing partner and girlfriend. Although they didn't get along when they first met, Marinette and Kagami were now close friends. She was even sitting next to her watching the band.

Marinette had been trying to get over her crush on Adrien. He clearly wasn't interested, and she didn't want to waste anymore of her time. Although it broke her heart, she had to let him go.

She started dating Luka during the summer. He was a great boyfriend and he was in love with her. She liked him too, she did. She just didn't love him, not the way that she loved Adrien. 

Marinette watched Luka as he strummed the chords on his guitar. He looked up and made eye contact. They smiled at each other before Luka looked back down at his sheet music. Her eyes then made their way over to Adrien. She stared dreamily at him as she listened to the song.

Luka looked back up at Marinette, only to discover that she was busy watching Adrien. His face fell as he continued playing.

When the band wrapped up their final song, the audience clapped before getting up and saying their goodbyes to each other. Marinette got up to help put all the instruments away, like she normally did. She went over to Adrien to collect the keyboard from him.

"You did a job great. I mean, did you a great job... I mean, ugh, nice job Adrien" she finally got out, her face turning red as she got close to him.

"Thanks Marinette" he said. He was way too used to Marinette's stammering to even question it anymore. He handed her the keyboard and walked over to Kagami, kissing her cheek as he stopped next to her.

Marinette watched them as they left together. She frowned and turned back to finish collecting the instruments. When she was done, she went in search of Luka. She found him in his room.

"Hey" she said, going over to him. "Do you want to go see a movie tonight?"

"I don't think so Marinette" he replied, not looking up at her.

"Okay, well what about tomorrow?" she asked.

"Marinette" Luka said, turning towards her, "I think we should break up."

Her mouth fell open in shock. "What, what are you talking about? Why?" she asked.

"Look, I'm in love with you, but it's obvious that you're still in love with Adrien."

Marinette stared up at Luka. She wanted to deny what he said, but she knew that he was right. Although she had told herself that she was over him, her heart just wasn't cooperating.

"I'm sorry Luka" is the only thing she could mutter out.

"It's okay Marinette, we gave it a shot. And it just didn't work out. I think it's best if we go back to being friends."

Marinette nodded, tears coming to her eyes.

Luka placed his hand on her shoulder. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Oh no, you don't have to do that" she said.

He stepped forward and gave her a hug. "You'll be okay" he told her.

She nodded again and left. The tears didn't start falling until she was on her way home.


	2. The First Day

On Monday morning, Adrien Agreste woke up with a smile on his face. Most students weren't as excited as he was for the first day of school. But he wasn't like most kids his age. After a lifetime of being homeschooled and locked up in his house, he was ecstatic to be able to escape the watchful eye of his overprotective father.

Going to school was his second favorite thing in the world to do. His favorite thing was jumping across the rooftops of Paris as his superhero alter-ego. He was one half of the amazing superhero duo of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Together they protected Paris from Hawkmoth and Mayura, supervillains who were determined to get ahold of their Miraculouses. 

"Good morning" Adrien announced to his kwami Plagg, who gave him the power to transform into Chat Noir. 

Plagg mumbled something unintelligible. School wasn't really his thing, he much preferred to eat, eat and eat some more. 

Adrien happily got ready for school. Plagg begrudgingly hid in his shirt pocket as he went down for breakfast.

After he ate, he ran outside where his bodyguard, who he had nicknamed 'Gorilla,' was waiting to drive him to school. Being a rich popular model and the son of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, Adrien was stuck with his bodyguard escorting him everywhere he went.

Pulling up to the school, Adrien said a quick "Thanks" to Gorilla and climbed out of the car. He quickly went inside and spotted his best friend Nino Lahiffe in the courtyard. Looking around for his other friends, he noticed a large group of girls around Marinette. She was sitting on one of the benches on the side of the room, and Alya had her hand on her shoulder. 

Adrien walked up to Nino.

"Dude! You ready for another awesome year?" Nino asked. 

"Yeah, definitely" Adrien replied, fistbumping his friend. He looked back over at the girls. "What's going on over there?"

"Oh" Nino said, his face changing. "I guess Luka broke up with Marinette over the weekend, so the girls are trying to cheer her up."

"You're kidding" Adrien said surprised. He always thought that Marinette and Luka made a great pair. They seemed so happy together. "That's horrible" he continued, talking to Nino. "She must be so upset."

At that moment the school bell rang and all the students made their way to their classes. Adrien and Nino took their seats in the front row as Marinette and Alya sat behind them. Alya was talking quietly to the blunette. He didn't want to interrupt them, but he did want to say hi.

"Hey Alya, hey Marinette" he said turning around. 

Alya quickly said hi and smiled at him but Marinette kept her head down. She muttered out a weak "Hey."

Adrien hated seeing his friend so upset but he wasn't sure what to say to make her feel better. He turned back around to face the front of the classroom.

Although he was happy to be at school again, Adrien didn't really enjoy his first day back. He was too concerned about Marinette. She was always so wonderful to everyone around her, always so kind and smart, and sweet and caring. Yeah, she was a little kooky at times, not to mention super clumsy, but that was all part of her charm. 

As they sat in Ms. Bustier's class again at the end of the day, Adrien decided that he needed to say something to Marinette to cheer her up. He knew that she would do the same for him.

When the final bell rang, he turned in his seat to speak to her. "Hey Marinette, I'm really sorry to hear about you and Luka."

She looked up at him. "Oh, th... thanks Adrien" she said quietly as she gathered her things. 

Adrien stayed sitting as the other students around him got up and left the room. As Marinette got up from her seat, he also stood. "Are you okay?" he asked her. 

She seemed surprised that he was still there. "Oh I, uh... fine. I mean, I'm fine" she said, avoiding his gaze.

Adrien moved up next to her and gave her a big hug. Marinette's heart started racing and her face turned bright red. Moving back, Adrien said "You know, I'll always be here for you Marinette."

She looked up at his gorgeous green eyes. "You will?" she asked, breathlessly. 

"Yeah of course. What are friends for?"

Marinette's heart sank. She fought back the tears forming in her eyes. "Right" she said, her voice cracking. 

Adrien looked at her. She still looked upset. He had been hoping to cheer her up but it didn't seem to be working. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

Marinette nodded quickly. "Yeah" she whispered. 

He didn't want to leave, but he knew that his bodyguard was waiting for him outside. "Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow" she whispered. 

Adrien took one last look at her and then turned around and left the room.

Marinette slowly lowered herself down into her seat. She was all alone in the classroom. Her kwami, Tikki, flew out of her purse and saw the tears fall down her Chosen's face. "Marinette" the kwami said, sympathetically. 

"Oh Tikki" Marinette cried, "I need to get over this stupid crush on Adrien. He's never going to return my feelings, and now it's even ruined another relationship for me. I can't keep doing this to myself."

"I'm so sorry Marinette" Tikki said, hugging Marinette's cheek.


	3. The Balcony

Back at home, Marinette stayed in her room until dinner time. It being the first day back at school, she didn't have any homework to distract her from her thoughts. She was relieved when her mother called her down to eat.

As she was finishing her dinner she felt her phone buzz. "I think I'll go back to my room and rest" she said, getting up from the table. 

"I think that's a good idea. I'm sure you're tired after your first day back" her mother, Sabine, said to her.

Marinette nodded and went upstairs. Once inside her room, she checked her phone. There was a scaffolding accident downtown. She quickly called out to her kwami. 

"Tikki, spots on!" she said as she transformed into Ladybug. She went up the stairs to her loft and climbed through the hatch that led to her balcony. Grabbing the yo-yo from her hip, she threw it towards the closest building. Its string wrapped around a pole, and Ladybug took off.

Halfway to her destination, she saw that Chat Noir was right on her heels. 

"Hey Ladybug! What have we got?" he called out to her as they ran across the rooftops. 

"Some sort of construction accident" she yelled back.

After another minute they reached the scene. Part of the scaffolding on the side of a building had collapsed and there were two workers trapped near the top.

"You go help the workers, I'll secure the rest of the frames" Ladybug told Chat Noir. They both sprung into action. 

Chat Noir vaulted himself over to the workers, allowing them to use his baton like a fireman's pole to reach the ground. Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around the structure, securing the frames while she moved the parts back into place. Chat Noir came over to help her finish the job. Once they were done they went down to the street. They were greeted with a round of applause from the first responders and the crowd that had gathered nearby. 

"Pound it" they said simultaneously, fist bumping each other. 

Chat Noir started to walk over to the rescued workers. "Hey Chat Noir?" Ladybug asked him. "Would you mind taking care of this? I need to be someplace."

"No problem" he replied, giving her his trademark two finger salute.

Ladybug flew off while Chat Noir checked on the workers. He gave a quick interview with Nadja Chamack, the local news reporter, and also posed for some pictures with the crowd. 

By the time he was finished, darkness had fallen over the city. He waved once more to the crowd and took off with his baton.

He was almost back home when something caught his eye. There was Marinette, leaning on the railing of her balcony. He couldn't see her face because she was looking towards the ground, but he assumed that she was still upset. 

He made the decision, he was going to stop by and see if he could make her feel better. Adrien might have failed at that, but maybe Chat Noir would succeed. 

Catapulting himself over, he landed on the roof of her house. She jumped slightly at the sound and turned around to face him. Chat Noir could see tears on her cheeks. She quickly reached up with one hand and wiped them away. She was holding something in her other hand. 

"Chat Noir" she said, surprised. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong" he replied, jumping down to the balcony. "I was just passing by and thought that I'd stop and say hi."

"That's really sweet of you" Marinette said, wiping her face again. 

"Are you okay?" he asked. 

"I... I'm just having a bad couple of days" she said, turning back to the street. She rested her elbows on the railing, fiddling with the item in her hand.

He moved to stand next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No" she replied simply, not looking at him. They stayed silent for a minute. "My boyfriend broke up with me over the weekend" she finally admitted. 

"I'm so sorry Marinette" Chat Noir said, leaning on the railing. "Break ups can be rough. Were you in love with him?"

She shoke her head. "No. That was actually the problem. He knew that I'm in love with someone else."

He looked over at her in surprise. 

She turned towards him. "Don't worry, it's not you" she said, rolling her eyes. 

Chat Noir chuckled slightly and put his hand to the back of his head. 

Marinette continued speaking. "No, it's this boy at my school. He's really nice. He even made this for me for my birthday." She held out her hand so he could see what she was holding. It was a bracelet with yellow, teal and blue beads, held together by a red string.

Chat Noir slowly reached out and picked it up. "He gave it to you for your birthday?" he asked quietly. 

She nodded. "Yeah, he's really sweet. It's supposed to be for good luck. Although, it doesn't seem to be working too well lately." She turned back to the street.

"I'm... really sorry Marinette" he said.

"It's okay. He's dating someone else, so nothing's going to happen between us. His girlfriend is great, and they seem really happy together. And I... I just want him to be happy." She reached up and wiped another tear.

He didn't say anything, he just continued looking at the bracelet. Suddenly the moment was interrupted by the loud sound of his stomach rumbling. 

Marinette looked over at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just a little hungry. I had a busy day and didn't get to eat much" Chat Noir explained. 

It was silent for a moment before Marinette spoke again. "Wait here. I'll be right back." She went over to the hatch and climbed down into her room. 

Chat Noir watched her go, then looked back at the bracelet. 

She returned in a few minutes with one of the bakery's carry-out bags. She presented it to Chat Noir. "Here, take this with you. So you have something to eat when you get home."

"On no, I couldn't..."

"Of course you can. This is a bakery. We always have tons of extra food laying around. Take it."

"No, really..." he protested.

"It's not a problem. I mean, it will make me feel better knowing that I was able to help out the great Chat Noir in his hour of need" she said with a small smile.

He nodded his head. "Okay" he said breathlessly. 

She smiled triumphantly and handed him the bag. For a second he thought he saw a spark come back to her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes. How come he had never noticed how blue they were before?

"I guess I should go then" Chat Noir said. 

"Of course."

He took a few steps but then turned back to her. "Oh, here's your..." He extended out his hand with the bracelet.

She reached out and grabbed it from him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He paused for a moment. "I, uh, I hope it starts working for you."

Marinette smiled again. "Yeah, me too."

With one last look at her, he pressed a button on his baton and took off. She watched him as he disappeared over the rooftops. 

Tikki suddenly appeared by her shoulder. "Do you realize that you just told Chat Noir that you're in love with Adrien?" the kwami asked.

"Relax Tikki, he has no idea who I was talking about." She sighed. "I'm going to go to bed now. Today was a long day." She climbed back down to her room. 

Tikki remained on the balcony, looking out over the city.


	4. The Not-So-Secret Secret

Chat Noir made his way back home quickly. He jumped through the open window in his room and landed on the floor. "Claws in" he said, detransforming into Adrien. He put the carry-out bag on the table by the couch and then went over to his bed. He plopped down face first. 

His kwami Plagg wasted no time digging into the bag. "Pastries!" he exclaimed. He started taking bites of different desserts. "If you want any food I suggest grabbing something now before I finish the whole bag" he called out to Adrien. 

Adrien groaned and flipped over. "How am I supposed to eat right now Plagg? I feel awful. Poor Marinette is in love with me!"

"Well yeah" he replied, continuing to devour the food. 

Adrien sat straight up and looked at him. "Wait, you knew that she was in love with me?"

"Of course I knew. I thought everyone knew" he replied, matter-of-factly.

"I didn't know!"

"Well, you should learn to pay attention" Plagg said. 

Adrien balked at him. "But, how did you figure it out?"

"Oh come on, Adrien. Just look at her. Her face turns bright red every time you get close to her. Plus there's all that stammering and awkward moving. I mean, she even tried to kiss a statue of you at the museum. What other clues do you need?"

Adrien put both hands over his face and mumbled something unintelligible. 

"What was that?" Plagg asked. 

Adrien removed his hands. "I said I get it. I'm an idiot."

"Yup" Plagg replied. 

Neither of them said anything for a couple of minutes. "So you think other people know?" Adrien asked. 

"I'm pretty sure that everyone knows. Nino, Alya, Chloé, Kagami, Nathalie, your teachers, everyone!"

"Ugh, what am I supposed to do Plagg?"

"What do you mean? You're not supposed to do anything. Just keep pretending that you're as oblivious as always. I mean, you can't exactly tell her how you found out about it."

Adrien sighed. "I feel so horrible, I called her my 'friend' today at school. She must be devastated" he said, covering his face again. 

"It's okay, kid" Plagg said, finally coming over to him. "Marinette will be fine."

"I hope so" Adrien mumbled. "Alright, let me try some of the food."

"Well, about that..." Plagg said.

************************************

As soon as Adrien arrived to school the next morning he ran up to the side of the building. He carefully made his way to the door and peered around it, looking into the courtyard. 

"Whatcha doing?" Plagg asked, popping out of his shirt.

Adrien jumped slightly. "Er, I'm just looking for Marinette."

"You know that you can't tell her anything."

"Yeah, I know. I won't say anything. I was hoping to avoid her actually" Adrien said. 

"Well that's real nice. First you break her heart, now you're avoiding her..."

"It's not like that, Plagg" he interrupted. "I just want to stay out of her way for a couple of days until she's feeling better. I don't want her to feel worse than she's already feeling."

He peered back around the door and spotted Marinette talking with Alya and Nino. The bell rang a moment later. "Come on, let's get to class." Plagg disappeared back into his shirt as he made his way inside the building. 

Adrien kept his head down as he walked into class and sat in his seat. He didn't dare look back at the girl sitting behind him. 

Nino leaned over. "Hey dude, how's it going?"

"Fine" Adrien replied.

Nino was about to say something else but Ms. Bustier started teaching. 

When class was over Adrien quickly got up and went to chemistry. Once seated he took out his notebook and started rewriting his notes. He was trying to look busy so he wasn't sucked into any conversations.

Adrien avoided talking to Marinette, and all of his other friends, throughout the day. After the final bell he quickly went down to the front steps. Of course this was the one day his bodyguard didn't arrive early to pick him up. He moved around to the side of the building so he wouldn't be seen by the other students as they left. Eventually he saw Marinette, Alya and Nino walk out. They stopped on the sidewalk, continuing to talk.

Gorilla finally pulled up to the curb with the car. But the three friends weren't moving. Adrien couldn't wait there forever so he decided to make a run for it. 

Hurrying out from around the building, he ran straight for the car. Just as he reached the area where his friends were chatting, Marinette waved goodbye and turned to walk home. He collided right into her, knocking her to the ground. Adrien managed to stay on his feet.

She stared up at him for a second before Adrien spoke. "Oh my gosh Marinette, I'm so sorry!" He reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling her up. When she was back on her feet they were only inches apart from each other.

She looked at him as her cheeks blushed furiously. "D... don't w... worry about it, I'm kay, uh, okay" she said, stepping back. 

"Are you sure that you're... ouch!" Nino tried to say before Alya punched him in the arm.

"Oh look at the time! We should get going" Alya said, dragging her boyfriend away with her. 

Adrien watched them leave, then looked back at Marinette. He noticed her red-stained cheeks. "You sure that you're okay?" he asked. 

Before she could respond they heard a familiar voice. "Adrien! Marinette!"

They both turned to see Kagami running over to them.

"Kagami! What... what are you doing here?" Adrien asked, surprised to see his girlfriend. He glanced over at Marinette, who was looking at the ground. 

"I came to surprise you" Kagami said. "I wanted to know if you wanted to go get smoothies with me."

"Oh, um... yeah, I guess we can do that" he said, hesitantly. He hated the fact that Marinette was hearing this conversation. 

Kagami turned towards her. "Hey Marinette, why don't you come with us!"

Marinette looked between Kagami and Adrien. "Oh no, I can't" she said.

"Come on, it'll be fun" Kagami insisted. 

"No, really. I, uh, have to go help my parents in the bakery, so I can't. But you two go, and have fun." She attempted a weak smile. 

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you at band practice on Saturday?" Kagami asked. 

Marinette blinked back tears. "Right. Saturday" she said, nodding. She spun around and walked towards her house. 

"Bye Marinette!" Kagami called after her. As she moved further away, Kagami leaned over to Adrien. "Is Marinette okay? She seems upset."

"Oh, um..." Adrien stuttered. "Er, Luka broke up with her."

"Oh no, how horrible!" Kagami said. "She must be heartbroken."

"Yeah, she is" Adrien replied quietly.


	5. The Baton

After going out with Kagami, Adrien went back home and had dinner. He plopped down on his bed again when he got in his room.

"What's wrong now?" Plagg asked him. 

"I'm still worried about Marinette. I think that I made her feel worse today."

"Why don't you go over to her house and check on her again?" he suggested. 

"I don't want to bother her."

"It won't be bothering her! You'll be doing your superhero duty! You know, making sure the citizens of Paris are safe and sound!"

"You just want me to get you more food, don't you?" Adrien asked, eyeing the kwami. 

"She said it herself, there's always extra food laying around."

"We're not going over there just to get more food" Adrien said. 

"You're right, we're going over there to make sure she's okay. You know, since you broke her heart and all..." Plagg said devilishly. 

Adrien sighed. "Fine, we'll stop by real quick, just to make sure that she's okay." He stood up. "Plagg, claws out!"

He transformed into Chat Noir and took off towards Marinette's house. He was there in minutes. On approach, he saw that she wasn't on her balcony but that her bedroom light was on. He landed on the roof. 

"This was stupid" he muttered to himself. Why did he expect her to be on her balcony again? Of course she would be inside her house. 

His thoughts were interrupted by Marinette opening up the hatch. "Chat Noir?" she asked into the night air. 

He quickly jumped down so she could see him. "Yeah, it's me" he said. "Wait, how did you know I was here?"

"Well I heard a thump coming from the roof. I don't really know anyone else who would be landing on top of my house" she said, climbing out to the balcony. 

"Oh, right" he said, chuckling. 

"So, what's going on?" she asked. "There's not an akuma attack or anything, is there?"

"No! I just wanted to check on you. You seemed pretty upset last night" Chat Noir said. 

"Oh" Marinette said, looking down. "I'm okay." She paused momentarily. "Did you like the food?" she asked, clearly wanting to change the subject. 

"Actually, I didn't get to eat any of it" he admitted.

"What? Why not?"

"My kwami ate all of it before I got the chance."

A smile tugged at her lips. "You're kidding."

"Sadly no" he said. 

She was smiling a little more. "Wait here." She walked towards the hatch. 

"No, you don't have to..." Chat Noir started to say, but Marinette had already jumped down. 

After a few minutes she was back with another bag. "Here you go" she said, handing it to him.

"Marinette, you didn't have to do this."

"I know I didn't have to, I wanted to. I mean, what is Paris going to do if our hero faints from lack of food? We would all be doomed!" she said dramatically, then laughed. "Now come on, eat some food here before you go. We don't want a repeat of last night."

Chat Noir reached into the bag and pulled out a croissant. He ate it ravenously. His father never allowed him to eat this type of food at home so he was in heaven. "Thank you so much Marinette" he said, reaching into the bag again. This time he got a madeleine.

"It's no problem" she replied. She leaned against the railing across from him so they were facing each other. "So... um, what's it like being a superhero?"

"It's pretty cool. I enjoy the freedom that I get when I'm Chat Noir. It's so different from my regular life."

"What's Ladybug like?"

Chat Noir paused for a second. "She's... great. We work really well together."

"Are you still in love with her?" she asked.

"I... I've actually been trying to get over her" he replied quietly, looking down. 

"Oh" Marinette said, unsure what to say. "I'm sorry."

He sighed. "It's okay, it's just... it's not easy getting over someone you loved so much."

Now it was Marinette's turn to look down. "Yeah, I know" she whispered. 

Chat Noir glanced back up quickly, realizing that she was upset again. "I, er... but yeah, being a superhero is great!"

"Yeah?" she asked, looking at him. 

"Yeah, come here" he said, putting the bag of food down. "Check this out." He grabbed the baton from his lower back and held in up for her.

She walked over and took it in her hands. 

"Try pressing this button right here" he said, pointing to one of the pads on the green paw print at the top of the baton.

Marinette pressed the button and jumped slightly as the baton extended to three times it's size. "Wow. That's really cool" she said, smiling again.

"It can do a lot of different stuff. You can fight with it, you can use it to breathe underwater, you can use it like a set of binoculars..."

"Do you mind if I try it out?"

"No, go right ahead!" he said happily. "Here, put one hand like this." He grabbed her hand and moved it to a different spot. "And your other one here" he said, adjusting her other hand. Wow, her hands felt so soft.

Marinette stepped back a little and tried to use the baton as a sword. "Like this?" she asked. 

"Exactly! You're a natural!" Chat Noir beamed at her. 

She laughed. Then she took the baton in one hand, twirled it around over her head, down along the side of her body and then spun around. She ended up with the baton tucked under her arm and her other hand held up in a fighting position. 

Chat Noir blinked at her. "Marinette, that was... amazing."

"Thanks" she said, retracting the baton and giving it back to him.

He kept staring at her as he attached it to his lower back. "Where did you learn to do that?" he asked. 

"I don't know, I was just messing around. I'd probably hit myself in the face if I tried it again."

"Well I'm very impressed" Chat Noir said. He looked at her for a moment before picking up the carry-out bag and grabbing another pastry.

Marinette smiled at him. "So what do you think?" she asked, gesturing towards the bag.

"A...so...ut...y...eli...ous" he said with a mouthful of macaron.

She giggled. "Um, okay."

"Sorry" Chat Noir said, clearing his throat. "I said that they're absolutely delicious."

"I'm glad you like them. And I'm glad that you actually got to eat them this time" she said laughing. 

He chuckled as he grabbed a chocolate chip cookie. "Yeah, my kwami can be a pain sometimes."

"What's he like?" Marinette asked, resting against the railing again.

Chat Noir started telling her all about Plagg. How his favorite food was stinky cheese. How he was hungry no matter how much he ate. How he was always doing things that he shouldn't be doing.

They didn't stop talking until he ran out of food.

"Oh" he said, frowning as he looked into the empty bag. "I guess I ate everything."

Marinette giggled again. "So I guess you liked them. Which one was your favorite?"

"The croissants, definitely. They've always been my favorite."

"Good to know" she said, smiling. 

Chat Noir smiled back. It was nice to see her smiling again. It was nice talking with her. It was nice just being around her. It suddenly occurred to him that he had been there for much longer than he had planned. "I'm sorry Marinette, I didn't mean to stay so long. I should go."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was nice having someone to talk to."

He couldn't agree more. "Thanks again for the food."

"You're welcome" she said, walking over and hugging him. "Stay safe out there, okay?"

"I... I will" he stuttered, surprised by the hug. He suddenly didn't want to leave. 

She pulled away to look at him. "I guess I'll see you around?"

Chat Noir stared into her eyes. They seemed even more blue than the night before. He nodded, too distracted by her gaze to say anything.

She let go of him and stepped back. He really didn't want to leave. He paused for a moment and then took out his baton. "Bye Marinette" he said.

"Bye" she said, tilting her head a little to the side. 

Reluctantly he jumped onto the railing and took off.


	6. The Pictures on the Wall

The next day at school Adrien tried again to stay away from Marinette. Fortunately, he was successful this time. Unfortunately, he realized that he missed being around her. After the great time they had the night before, he was disappointed to think that they would never be able to talk like that in real life. Not when she was always so nervous around Adrien.

Right after school he had fencing practice. He usually did well in his bouts, but today he could barely focus and ended up losing most of them. He couldn't shake an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach. Maybe he had eaten too much yesterday. 

"You seemed really distracted out there. What's going on?" Kagami asked him at the end of practice. 

Adrien sighed. "I'm just not feeling like myself today."

"I'm sorry" Kagami said, grabbing his hand. "Do you think you're getting sick?"

"I don't know, maybe" he said. 

"Why don't you go home and get some rest?" she suggested, leaning in and kissing his cheek. 

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." He finished packing up his gear and waved goodbye to Kagami as he left. 

By the time he got home, dinner was ready. He sat at the huge dining room table all alone, picking at his food. His stomach still wasn't feeling good. 

Back in his room he started on his homework but had to stop and get up.

"What's going on, kid?" Plagg asked, noticing that he was acting strange. 

"My stomach is all upset. I think I ate too much yesterday."

"Well that's what you get for not saving any food for me!" Plagg said unapologetically.

"You didn't save any food for me the night before" Adrien argued. 

"Hey, that was your own fault. Don't blame me for the fact that you were too busy moping about Marinette."

"I wasn't moping" Adrien mumbled. 

"Yeah, sure kid" Plagg said. 

Adrien sighed. "I'm sorry, you're right. I should have saved some food for you. "

"It's okay, you can make it up to me by getting more food tonight!"

"What?" Adrien asked incredulously. "We're not going over there again."

"Oh, come on. You know you want to go see her."

"No I don't, I just like talking to her" he mumbled. 

"Same difference" the kwami replied. 

Adrien looked at him from the corner of his eye but didn't say anything. 

"Just say the words" Plagg said teasingly.

Adrien let out a long exasperated sigh. "Plagg, claws out!"

"That's what I thought..." Plagg said as he was sucked into Adrien's ring.

Chat Noir hurried to Marinette's house. It was a little cool that evening and a light rain was falling. He landed on the roof and jumped down to the balcony. A second later Marinette opened the hatch. 

"Come inside quick before you get soaked!" she said to him.

He happily hopped in after her, landing on her bed. She was already climbing down the steps to her room. He was about to follow her but got distracted by the collage of pictures hanging on the wall. About a third were pictures of Adrien. His heart sank a little at seeing them.

"I'm glad that you came over tonight" Marinette called to him. 

"Really?" Chat Noir asked, climbing down the steps.

"Yeah, I made some new things today for the bakery and I wanted you to try them. I'll be right back" she said before going downstairs. 

He looked around the room while he was waiting. There were more pictures of Adrien on the wall behind her desk. He was so focused on the pictures that he almost jumped when he heard Marinette come back into the room.

She was holding a tray of different croissants. "You said that croissants were your favorite so I figured that you would be the perfect person to try these. If you want to, of course" she added. 

Chat Noir suddenly felt like he was starving. His stomach wasn't bothering him anymore. "I'd love to" he said with a huge smile on his face. 

She smiled back. "Great. These ones over here are chocolate-hazelnut, and those are apple-cranberry. Help yourself to as many as you'd like." She placed the tray down on the edge of her desk by the computer. 

Chat Noir grabbed a chocolate hazelnut croissant and took a big bite. "This is delicious!" he exclaimed.

She giggled. "I'm glad you like it. Let me know what you think of the other ones too." She moved over to her sewing machine and looked at the open notebook on the desk. She started flipping through a couple of pages.

Having finished the chocolate croissant, Chat Noir grabbed an apple-cranberry one and bit into it as he moved over to stand next to her. "This one is even better!"

"That one was my favorite too" she said, keeping her eyes on the notebook. 

"Well, great minds think alike" he started saying. 

"But fools seldom differ" Marinette and Chat Noir said simultaneously, finishing the mostly unknown second half of the famous quote.

They turned towards each other in surprise. Their faces were only inches apart. 

"I guess we're both fools then" Marinette said, staring up at him. 

"Yeah" he said quietly, nodding his head. "I guess so."

After a second, Marinette turned back and flipped another page.

Chat Noir reluctantly tore his eyes away from her to see what she was looking at. The notebook was full of design sketches. "Did you draw these?" he asked in amazement. 

"Uh, yeah. I did. I'm really into fashion so I've been sketching some things. Right now I'm trying to decide which piece to make next. I figured that I need a project to work on." She kept flipping. 

"Wait" Chat Noir said, pointing at a page. "How about this one?" The sketch was for a long pink and white dress with a scalloped neckline and ruffled layer skirt.

"Well, this one would definitely be a project with all these details."

"Oh I'm sorry. If it's too complicated you can pick something else" he protested. 

"No" she said smiling at him. "This one is perfect."


	7. The Sleepover

Chat Noir visited Marinette again the following night. She very happily showed him the fabric and supplies that she had purchased after school. Now she had everything that she needed to start on the dress. They munched on éclairs while Marinette talked about her step-by-step plan to make her creation. 

When he arrived Friday night, Marinette was waiting for him in her room with a tray of lemon tarts. 

"It's amazing that everything you guys make here is so delicious!" Chat Noir told her after trying one. 

"Yeah, my parents have been doing this for a long time. They've kind of perfected their recipes" Marinette said.

"I can tell" he said, eating another. 

She grabbed one too. "I know how to make a couple of things but I'm not as talented as them."

"Of course you're talented Marinette. At designing, and at baking."

She giggled. "That's sweet of you to say."

"Well it's true" he said, smiling at her. "Are you going to start on the dress this weekend?"

"Yeah I'll probably start on it tomorrow." All of a sudden her face dropped.

"What? What's wrong?" Chat Noir asked concerned.

"Oh, it... it's nothing. I just remembered that tomorrow is Saturday" she said. 

"Okay" he replied, confused.

She explained. "Every Saturday I go to watch my friends' band practice. They play at Luka's place. It will be the first time I see him since we broke up."

Chat Noir nodded in understanding. 

"Ugh, tomorrow is going to be a nightmare" Marinette said in exasperation, going over to her chaise and lying down. She covered her face with her hands. 

Chat Noir walked over and sat on the chaise next to her. "Maybe you can skip it this week?"

Marinette uncovered her face. "No, I should go. I need to get this over with. That way I won't have to stress about it anymore." She sighed and closed her eyes.

There was silence for a minute before Chat Noir spoke. "Well, if it would make you feel better, I could always go and beat him up."

Marinette smiled, keeping her eyes closed. "I don't think that will be necessary." She turned her head towards him and opened her eyes. "But thanks" she said softly. 

He held his breath as he looked down at her. She was so beautiful. And she was staring at him with those big blue orbs of hers. He couldn't look away. 

"Will you come back again tomorrow night?" she asked him. 

He nodded, not breaking eye contact. 

"I think I'm going to go to bed now. I'm really tired."

"Of course" he said, but he didn't move.

She smiled at him again. "That means that you have to go."

"Right" he said, still not moving. 

She smiled wider. "Do you want to stay here for a while?" she asked. 

He paused for a second, then slowly nodded.

"Alright" she said. "I'm going to go change and get to bed. You can stay as long as you want. You just have to be quiet. Deal?"

"Deal" Chat Noir said. He stood up and reached out his hand, helping her get up.

She moved over to her dresser and pulled out some clothes. Then she went into her bathroom. After a couple of minutes she came back out wearing a white polka-dotted shirt and pink sweatpants. "Is it alright if I turn off the lights?"

"Yes" he said, not taking his eyes off of her in her pajamas. 

"Can you just make sure to close the hatch after you leave?"

"I will" he promised. 

She went up to him and hugged him. "Have a good night, okay?"

"You too, Marinette" he said, hugging her tightly. 

She pulled away and turned off the lights. Then she climbed up the steps to her bed. Chat Noir heard her move around for a minute and then settle down. He went over and lay down on the chaise. 

One of Chat Noir's powers was nightvision, so he glanced around the room as he rested. Marinette's house was completely different from his house. His was cold and empty while her's was warm and cozy. He felt so much more comfortable in Marinette's room than in his own. Soon he was fast asleep. He didn't wake up until he heard Marinette's voice. 

"Chat Noir?" she whispered, shaking his shoulder gently. He opened his eyes and saw her sitting next to him. "You fell asleep. It's morning."

"Oh, I'm sorry" he said, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"It's no problem" she replied. "I just want to make sure that you get back home before someone realizes that you're gone. I don't want you to get in trouble."

Chat Noir looked at her. She had to be the kindest person that he had ever met. The way that she cared so much about everyone around her was incredible. 

"No, I'll be fine" he told her. "Don't worry about me."

She smiled and nodded. "So I'll see you tonight?"

"Definitely. Nothing could keep me away, Princess."

Marinette leaned back and narrowed her eyes at him. "Princess?"

Chat Noir laughed. "What? You don't like it?"

"Not really" she admitted, laughing. "But I guess I've been called worse."

"Well, no one will dare insult my Princess ever again. Not with me around."

"Alright, Chat Noir. It's time for you to get out of here before you get in trouble" Marinette said, pushing him to his feet.

"I'm going, I'm going!" He said, putting his hands up in the air in defeat. Climbing the steps to the loft, he called out to her. "I'll see you later."

"Bye" she replied before he jumped through the hatch.


	8. The Awkward Meeting

Marinette purposely arrived a little late to band practice. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn't have to talk with Luka before they started playing. 

As she walked onto the houseboat she quickly spotted Alya, who waved her over. She sat down between her and Kagami. The three girls immediately started talking. 

"Have you talked to Luka since you guys broke up?" Alya asked Marinette. 

"No, this is the first time seeing him since last week" Marinette answered. She looked over at the band. There was Luka, playing the guitar. She let her eyes wander over to Adrien at the keyboard. They made eye contact for a moment before Marinette turned away, blushing slightly.

"I still can't believe that he broke up with you" Kagami said. "What happened?"

"Oh, um..." Marinette mumbled. "We just decided that we work better as friends."

"Friendship is the basis of any good relationship. Maybe eventually you two will get back together" Kagami said. 

"Yeah, maybe" Marinette replied. 

They continued chatting off and on as the band practiced. Marinette's heart started racing when she heard them playing their last song. It was almost time to face him.

Everyone clapped and stood up when the song ended. Adrien hurried over to them. "Hey Marinette" he said. "It's great to see you here. I thought maybe you weren't coming when I didn't see you earlier."

"Oh" Marinette said, blushing again. "I was just running a little late. I w... would never miss band practice. You... you're so wonderful. I mean, the band is so wonderful. Not you, specifically." The color on her face deepened. 

He smiled at her. "Yeah, I knew what you meant."

"Oh thank goodness" she said relieved. 

"Well I'm ready to go whenever you are" Kagami said to Adrien. 

He looked over at her. "Right, I guess I'm ready." He turned back to Marinette and Alya. "I'll see you at school on Monday?"

"We'll be there!" Alya told him while Marinette remained silent. 

Kagami waved and walked off, Adrien following behind. They walked right past Luka, who was heading towards Marinette. Adrien turned his head to watch Luka approach her. He wished he was still there to listen to what they were saying. 

************************************

Adrien didn't eat much at dinner that evening. His stomach was acting up again. He impatiently waited for night to fall so he could go see Marinette. He needed to find out what happened between her and Luka. It made his blood boil thinking that he said or did anything to upset Marinette. 

When it was time, he moved across the rooftops of Paris as fast as he could go. Landing on the roof and jumping down, he heard the noise that he had quickly learned to love. The sound of Marinette opening up the hatch to let him inside. She had a huge smile on her face. "Come on in" she said, ducking back inside. 

Okay, so she definitely isn't upset. That's good. But why does she seem so happy? There's no chance that she would get back together with Luka, is there? No, there's no way. She wouldn't do that. Not after what he did to her. Plus, she's too good for him anyway. But why is she so happy then? He needed to find out. 

"How did it go today?" he asked as soon as he climbed down the steps in her room. 

"Oh, it actually went pretty well. Me and Luka got to talk, and everything's fine."

Chat Noir's heart sank. "So, you two... you got back together with him?" he asked hesitantly. 

Marinette spun around to look at him. "What? No, of course not! I just meant that we got over the awkwardness of seeing one another again. We're not back together."

Chat Noir breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, I guess I assumed that something happened because you seem so happy."

She tilted her head slightly to the side. "I'm happy because you're here." 

His heart caught in his chest. He wanted to tell her that he was happy to be there too, but his mouth didn't want to work. 

Marinette continued speaking. "I made some palmiers today. I wanted you to try them." She grabbed the tray sitting on her desk and held it out to him. 

Chat Noir lifted his hand to take one of the pastries from the tray. But it felt like he was moving in slow motion. Why was he moving so slowly? At least Marinette didn't seem to notice. He finally managed to pick up a palmier and take a bite. 

"Well?" she asked, smiling. 

"Wonderful" was the only word that he could utter out.

Her eyes lit up at his response. She was about to say something but was interrupted by her phone buzzing. 

Chat Noir cursed the phone in his mind. He hadn't wanted that moment to end.

Marinette put the tray down and went over to check the message. Upon reading it, her face fell slightly. "Nothing important" she said, putting the phone in her back pocket. She smiled at him. "Do you want to go up to the balcony? It's supposed to be a nice night."

Chat Noir nodded. He still wasn't able to talk. She grabbed his hand and guided him up the steps and through the hatch. She walked to the railing and looked out over the city. Off in the distance, a couple of helicopters were hovering around one area. The only one surprised to see them there was Chat Noir. 

"I guess I have to go" he said dejected. He turned to look at her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Paris needs you right now" she responded. 

Chat Noir didn't move, he kept staring at her. 

She laughed. "Go!"

He nodded again. "Stay inside, Marinette. I'll stop by after this is all done."

She shook her head. "I'll probably be asleep by the time you get back. You should go home and get some rest. Why don't you stop by tomorrow instead?"

He reluctantly agreed. "Stay inside" he repeated before he left. 

Marinette hurried back inside her bedroom and turned off the lights. "Tikki, spots on!"


	9. The Invitation

It was almost midnight by the time the akumatized villain was defeated. Chat Noir went straight home but had trouble falling asleep. 

In the morning Adrien decided that it was time to talk to Marinette again, like they used to before he found out about her crush. She seemed to be feeling much better about the break up with Luka. Plus, he had quickly gotten used to spending time with her. He wanted their time together to continue with him being Adrien, not just as Chat Noir. 

As the days went by he talked to her more and more. And it seemed like she was slowly getting better talking back. After two weeks she even managed to get an entire conversation out without stuttering. 

Every night over those two weeks he would go to see her as Chat Noir, and every night she would be waiting for him with a different dessert. A couple of times he had to leave early to go battle an akumatized villain. He was disappointed every time he had to cut their evening short.

************************************

Another Saturday morning meant another band practice. Adrien's bodyguard picked Kagami up along the way like usual. They were always one of the first people to arrive.

Adrien kept an eye out for Marinette, but she still hadn't shown up by the time they started the rehearsal. As the minutes ticked by, he was getting more and more concerned. She never missed band practice. And she had already seen Luka a couple of times since they broke up, so it wasn't that. Something had to be wrong.

He was just about to make up some excuse to leave early when she finally arrived. She was carrying a white box, which she gave to Kagami before sitting down next to her. The two friends chatted as the music played. 

After the band wrapped up the final song, Adrien rushed over to talk to Marinette. "Hey, is everything okay?" he asked her. "You almost missed practice."

"Oh, I'm sorry" she replied, blushing. "Kagami texted me this morning and asked me to bring some macarons from the bakery. I had to wait for them to finish cooling off."

"Yeah" Kagami said. "I know you haven't been feeling too good lately so I thought that maybe these would cheer you up."

"Oh wow, thanks Kagami" he said, taking the box from her.

"I asked for the raspberry ones. They're your favorite, right?" 

Adrien's frowned slightly. Raspberry was probably his least favorite flavor. "That's... great" he said, putting on a fake smile. 

"Actually," Marinette said, shifting her feet, "we didn't have too many raspberry ones this morning so I added a bunch of passion fruit ones and strawberry ones. I hope you don't mind."

Adrien looked over at her but she averted his gaze. Passion fruit and strawberry were his favorites.

"Oh that's too bad" Kagami said. "I'm sure these will be good though. Are you all set to leave?"

He nodded, still looking at Marinette. 

"We'll see you next time. Thanks again" Kagami said, hugging Marinette.

"Bye guys, enjoy!" Marinette said as they walked away.

************************************

A tarte tatin was the dessert of choice that evening. The pair sat at Marinette's computer desk as they ate. Somehow they got around to talking about football and their favorite teams. The conversation was interrupted, however, by Marinette's phone ringing. 

Marinette walked over and picked it up. "Hey Alya" she said, answering the call. "What's up?"

Chat Noir kept eating as he listened to the conversation.

"No, I don't have any plans... yeah, that would be great... awesome, I'll meet you guys there... okay, I will... yeah, okay... bye!"

She disconnected the call and turned towards Chat Noir. "That was my friend, Alya. You know, the girl who runs the Ladyblog?"

"Yeah, I know Alya" he replied. "Why did she call?"

"She invited me to go swimming tomorrow. I guess she's trying to get a group of our friends to all go together."

"Oh, that sounds like fun" Chat Noir said, his face dropping. No one had invited Adrien to go.

"Hey, if you're going to stick around for a while, would you want to help me out with the dress?"

The smile returned to his face. "I would love to."

Marinette clapped her hands. "Awesome!"

They worked together for the next two hours. Chat Noir had never realized how much work goes into making an article of clothing. As Adrien, he had been a model for his father's brand for years, but he had never been involved in this part of the process. 

"I can't believe how much work goes into this" he said as Marinette put all her supplies away for the night. 

"It's definitely a lot but it's worth it in the end" she replied. "Thanks for all your help."

"Any time, Princess."

Marinette chuckled. "Well I should go to bed now. You leaving?"

Chat Noir opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He knew that he should leave, but that didn't mean that he wanted to.

"You can stay here again if you'd like" she continued.

He nodded. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" he asked. 

"No, not at all. Go ahead."

Chat Noir went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. "Claws in" he whispered, releasing his transformation. 

Adrien grabbed a piece of Camembert from his shirt pocket and tossed it to Plagg, who ate it in one bite.

"Why are we still here?" the kwami asked. 

"I want to stay a little longer" Adrien replied, taking his phone out and checking his messages. He had a missed text from Nino. He was thrilled to see that it was an invitation to go swimming. He quickly texted his confirmation and put the phone away. "Plagg, claws out!" he whispered. 

"Everything okay?" Marinette asked as Chat Noir came out of the bathroom. 

"Yes, everything's fine."

"Great, I'll go change. Same deal as last time, okay? Just keep quiet and close the hatch. Oh, and don't fall asleep. I don't want you getting into trouble."

"I understand" Chat Noir said, lying down on the chaise. 

When Marinette was done using the bathroom, he watched her turn off the lights and go to bed.


	10. The Pool

As much as he didn't want to, Chat Noir left Marinette's house shortly after she fell asleep. He essentially had to climb over her to leave through the hatch, but he didn't mind. 

Back in his house it took a while for Adrien to fall asleep. He couldn't get comfortable no matter what he tried. Sleep finally claimed him in the early morning hours.

************************************

When Marinette arrived at the pool, several of her friends were already there.

After hugging her, Alya whispered "Adrien's coming today!"

Marinette rolled her eyes at her best friend. "That's great for him" she mumbled back.

Within a few minutes the rest of the group had arrived, including Adrien. Everyone went inside, with the girls heading to the girl's changing room and the boys heading to the boy's changing room. 

"I love the new bathing suit" Alya told Marinette once they had changed. "You look smokin' girl!"

Marinette laughed. "I think that Nino's going to have a heart attack when he sees you."

"Well that's the idea" her friend replied, winking at her. 

The two friends giggled as they made their way to the pool.

Marinette stopped however, when she saw Adrien standing by the pool with Nino. A shirtless Adrien was a new experience for her. She blushed as they walked up to the boys.

"Hey, you guys ready?" Alya asked them.

Both boys' mouths fell open when they turned around and saw the girls in front of them. Nino was looking at Alya. Adrien was looking at Marinette. 

"Holy crap, babe" Nino said. "You look so hot."

"I know, right?" Alya replied, flipping her hair back. She was wearing an orange striped bikini that accentuated her curvy body. "Come on, let's go in" she said, pulling her boyfriend with her to the pool steps. 

Adrien was still staring at Marinette. She was wearing a bright pink bikini that complimented her fair skin and dark hair. His heart was racing as he tried to think of something to say. She looked up at him with those beautiful eyes and all of a sudden Adrien needed to get into that cold water. He quickly turned around and followed Nino and Alya into the pool.

Marinette stood in place for a moment before slowly making her way to the pool steps. She was almost there when her classmate and friend Kim stopped her.

"Whoa Marinette!" he said, looking her up and down. "When did you get so ripped? I didn't know you worked out!"

She laughed. "I don't, actually."

"There's no way you got those guns by carrying your books to class" Kim said, nudging her with his elbow.

"Just lucky I guess" Marinette said nonchalantly. There was no way that she could ever admit that she got all her muscles from her time spent fighting villains as Ladybug. 

"Well whatever it is, it's working for you" Kim continued. 

Adrien frowned listening to their conversation. How inappropriate can Kim be? Doesn't he have a girlfriend?

"So where's Kagami?" Alya asked, interrupting his thoughts. "She couldn't make it?"

Adrien blinked at her. He had totally forgotten about Kagami. "Oh... I..." he stuttered. "I actually didn't invite her."

"Why not? Everything okay with you two?" Nino asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine" he said, not elaborating.

By now Marinette, Kim and all the friends had made their way into the pool. Alya, Nino, Marinette, Adrien, Mylene, Max, Rose and Juleka started playing 'Marco Polo' while Kim, Alix and Ivan swam laps. Next they all took turns doing cannonballs into the deep end. Ivan made the biggest splash, much to Kim's chagrin. After that the group split back up to do their own things.

"How about if we do chicken fights?" Alya suggested to Nino and Marinette.

"How am I supposed to play?" Marinette asked. "I don't have a partner."

"Just go ask Adrien" she replied, earning a chuckle from Nino.

Marinette stared at her friend in disbelief. "Are you insane? You seriously expect me to ask the boy I used to be in love with if it's okay that I climb on top of him and wrap my legs around his head?"

"What do you mean 'used to be'?" the redhead snickered before getting jabbed in the arm by Marinette. "Okay girl, calm down. We'll find someone else."

She looked around the pool. "Kim! Will you be Marinette's partner for a chicken fight?" she called out. 

"Oh, I'm so in!" Kim replied, swimming over.

"We want to play too!" Mylene said as she and Ivan swam over. Rose and Juleka partnered up, followed by Alix and Max. 

"Poor Adrien doesn't have a partner" Alya lamented. 

"It's okay, I don't know how to play this game anyway. I'll just watch" Adrien said. 

"Okay, me and Nino versus Marinette and Kim first" Alya announced. 

The friends made a circle around the two couples as they got ready. Nino and Kim both dipped down under the water so Alya and Marinette could climb on their shoulders. Adrien's mouth fell open again when he realized what the game entailed. Why didn't Alya ask him to partner up with Marinette?

"Ready?" Alya asked once they were in position. Marinette nodded. "Okay, go!" she said.

Marinette quickly grabbed Alya's hands and yanked her to the side, causing her and Nino to fall over. The match was over in two seconds. 

Alya glared at Marinette when she resurfaced from the fall.

"Oh Alya, what happened? You used to be so good at this game" Marinette said innocently. 

"Way to go Marinette" Kim said, dipping down so she could climb off.

Next, Alix and Max won against Rose and Juleka. Then Mylene and Ivan battled Alya and Nino, the latter pair victorious.

It was Marinette and Kim's turn again, this time going against Alix and Max. Marinette climbed back onto Kim's shoulders and he put his hands on her knees. Adrien felt his face burning up. He watched as Marinette and Kim won easily again. 

Finally, Rose and Juleka won against Mylene and Ivan. They all decided that they had spent enough time at the pool for the day.

Everyone made their way out of the pool and over to their towels. Marinette pulled the two elastics out of her pigtails and shook her hair. She ran her fingers through it trying her best to get the tangles out. 

"Hey Marinette" a voice said from behind her. She turned around to see Adrien. Shirtless Adrien, right in front of her. 

"Hey" she squeaked out.

"I just wanted to say that I really like your bathing suit. Did you make it yourself?" he asked. 

"Make it myself?" she repeated. "No, no no no no no no no. It's actually a lot more difficult to make bathing suits than it looks." Her cheeks were now competing with the color of her bikini.

"Well it looks great on you" Adrien said. 

"Thanks" Marinette said, looking down. She bit her bottom lip, not knowing what else to say.

And that did Adrien in. Soaking wet, bikini-clad Marinette with her hair down and her biting her lip was too much for him to take. 

He suddenly stepped back. "I have to go now" he said before running to the boy's changing room. 

"What was that about?" Alya asked Marinette, coming up to her. 

"I don't know, he just told me that he liked my bathing suit and then he ran off" Marinette said.

"Oh he did, did he?" Alya asked, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend. 

Marinette sighed. "Let's go get changed."

"I bet Adrien would like to help you get changed..." Alya started saying before Marinette jabbed her on her other arm.


	11. The Storm

Another evening meant another visit to Marinette's. Chat Noir couldn't get the image of her wearing that pink bikini out of his mind. Kim was right. She was amazingly fit and toned. Who would have known that that body was hiding under all of those modest clothes? He tried to push those thoughts from his mind as he landed on the roof. 

Today she had brought up canelés for them to eat. They worked on the dress for a little while but then they decided to take a break and play some video games. After playing four rounds of Ultimate Mecha Strike 3, Marinette started yawning. 

"I think it's time for me to get to sleep" she said, getting up and turning the game off. 

Once the noise from the computer was silenced, both of them heard the unwelcome sound of thunder.

"On no" Chat Noir groaned, going over to the windows and looking outside. It was downpouring. Flashes of lightning lit up the sky.

"Well" Marinette said, walking up next to him, "It looks like you're definitely staying here tonight."

Chat Noir nodded. "I really hate thunderstorms" he admitted. 

"Don't worry, they never last too long. I'm sure it will be over soon." She put her hand on his back and moved it around in circles.

Thunder clapped again, this time a little louder.

"I'll be right back, okay?" She walked across the room, grabbed her pajamas and changed in the bathroom.

"Do you want to keep the lights on until the storm is over?" she asked him. 

"No, you can turn them off. It's not the darkness that I hate, it's just the noise" Chat Noir told her.

Marinette nodded. "Try to rest. I'll be right here if you need me."

"Thanks" he said, moving over to the chaise. 

Marinette switched off the lights and climbed up to her bed. She could tell that the storm was getting closer. The thunder was getting louder every time. She closed her eyes even though she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep, not with all the noise. The rain pelted the hatch above her. With the next clap of thunder she heard a disturbance coming from the chaise. 

"Chat Noir?" she asked, sitting up and looking in his direction. 

"I'm fine, I just jumped a little from the noise. Go back to sleep Princess" he said to her.

She lay down but sat up again when the next thunderclap struck and the same noise came from the chaise. "Chat Noir?" she asked again. 

He groaned. "I'm so sorry Marinette. These cat ears are supersonic so everything is ten times louder than usual. I should probably go, it's only going to get worse the louder the thunder gets."

"There's no way you're leaving during a storm" she said, getting up and climbing down the steps. She carefully made her way over to him in the dark and reached out her hand. "Come with me."

He grabbed her hand and she led him up the steps to her bed. "Lie down here next to me until the storm ends" she said. 

"No Marinette, I can't..." he started protesting until another thunderclap struck. He jumped at the sound.

Marinette put her hands up to his face. "Lie down" she said.

He lay down on the bed and she climbed in next to him. They lay on their sides facing each other. Chat Noir jumped again at the next thunderclap. Marinette moved closer to him and put her hands up to his cat ears, flattening them down against his head. "Is this better?" she asked. He nodded. 

The next clap of thunder still caused him to flinch.

"Let's try this" Marinette said. She started whisper-singing.

🎶 Non, rien de rien  
Non, je ne regrette rien 🎶

Chat Noir recognized the song. It was 'Non Je Ne Regrette Rien' by Édith Piaf.

🎶 Ni le bien, qu'on m'a fait  
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal 🎶

He continued listening to her voice, ignoring the sounds of the storm raging on outside. Right now the whole world was just him and Marinette. 

🎶 Non, rien de rien   
Non, je ne regrette rien 

Ce payé, balayé, oublié   
Je me fous du passé

Avec mes souvenirs  
J'ai allumé le feu 

Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs  
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux

Balayés les amours  
Avec leurs trémolos

Balayés pour toujours  
Je repars à zéro 

Non, rien de rien   
Non, je ne regrette rien 

Ni le bien, qu'on m'a fait  
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal

Non, rien de rien   
Non, je ne regrette rien 

Car ma vie, car mes joies  
Aujourd'hui, ça commence avec toi 🎶

Chat Noir smiled when she was done. "I love that song."

"My father used to sing it to me when I was younger" she explained. 

"My mother used to sing to me too" he said. 

Marinette smiled. "Try to rest now" she said, keeping her hands on his cat ears.

Chat Noir continued looking at her. He wished that he could see the blue in her eyes. Nightvision made everything shades of green and black. He slowly closed his eyes.

The storm must have been moving away. He could barely hear the thunder anymore. He didn't dare move though, he didn't want Marinette's hands to leave their place on him.

After a few minutes, Chat Noir felt Marinette's hands relax. He half opened his eyes to look at her. Her eyes were closed. 'She must have fallen asleep' he thought, closing his eyes again. He didn't want to leave. 

A second later, Marinette half opened her eyes to see that his eyes were closed. 'He must have fallen asleep' she thought. She didn't want him to leave.

They both lay there next to each other. Eventually they did fall asleep, and didn't wake up until the morning.


	12. The Realization

Chat Noir woke up confused. The ceiling that he was looking at was not his own. It took him a couple of seconds to remember where he was. He was in Marinette's bed. And he wasn't alone. She was there too, lying on her side with her head on his shoulder and one arm drapped across his chest. 

It was Monday morning, they had to get to school. Judging by the amount of sunlight he could see coming in through the windows, it must be time to wake up. Nathalie would be knocking on the door to his empty bedroom if he wasn't at breakfast soon. But at that moment he couldn't care less about getting in trouble. He was going to take every second he could get lying there with Marinette. 

Barely five minutes passed before Marinette's alarm sounded. She stirred and started moving her arm, but froze once she realized that someone was next to her. She opened her eyes and then jumped back seeing that she was half on top of Chat Noir. 

"I... I'm sorry" she sputtered out, trying to catch her breath. "I... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay Marinette" he said, sitting up and reaching out. He placed his hand on hers. "I'm sorry that I fell asleep again."

"No, that's fine. I don't mind." She finally turned around and shut off the alarm. "I, uh, need to get ready for school now."

Chat Noir nodded. "I'll go." He stood up on the bed and opened the hatch. "Have a good day at school."

"I will" she said.

He climbed out and left.

Marinette exhaled. Tikki flew over to her, her tiny arms crossed. 

"What?" Marinette asked the kwami. "We fell asleep."

Tikki didn't respond as Marinette climbed down the steps and got ready for school. 

************************************

By some miracle, Adrien got back to his house before anyone had noticed that he was gone all night. He quickly changed his clothes and ran to breakfast. All he thought about was Marinette resting against him and how he would give anything to have that again. 

For whatever reason she looked extra beautiful that day. Her eyes were sparkling. Adrien took every opportunity that he got to turn around and glance at her during class. He was super bummed when he got an akuma alert on his phone right before noon. Now he'd miss out on eating lunch with her. 

Using an empty classroom to transform, he took off towards the scene and met up with Ladybug there. Boy, was she in a good mood that day. She was even laughing at his jokes. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to capture the akuma, so he got back to school in time for his next class. 

Adrien spent the rest of the day trying to stay as close to Marinette as possible. And when he wasn't with her, he found himself thinking about her.

After school he had his piano lesson and ate dinner. Nathalie droned on about his upcoming schedule, but he didn't pay attention. His mind was occupied with thoughts of the beautiful blunette. 

At dusk, Chat Noir went to Marinette's house and landed on the roof. When she opened the hatch, he was surprised to see that her hair was up in a bun.

"Hey Chat Noir, I'm so sorry but I can't hang out tonight. My parents need me to help them with a catering event" she said. 

The smile disappeared from his face. "Oh, I uh... okay."

"I'm sorry" Marinette repeated. "But I made these for you. You can bring them home." She handed him a carry-out bag. 

"Thanks" he said.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked. 

He nodded. "Definitely."

"Okay, I have to go. Have a great night" she said, closing the hatch.

Chat Noir stood on the balcony for a few minutes. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He stayed there until he saw Marinette and her parents heading out for the event.

Once back home in his room he detransformed into Adrien. He put the carry-out bag on the table but didn't open it up. He went over and lay down on his bed. 

"Let's see what we got today" Plagg said happily as he dug into the bag. "Mille feuilles!" he exclaimed before eating one of the puff pastries. "Adrien, you have to try one of these!"

"I'm not feeling too good" he replied. 

"Suit yourself. More for me" Plagg said, eating another. 

Adrien lay in bed thinking. Why was he feeling so strange? So what if he couldn't hang out with Marinette that evening? He saw her everyday. What was the big deal?

Yeah, he loved seeing her. And he loved talking with her. And he loved being around her. And he loved those beautiful eyes. And her sweet laugh. And her caring heart. He loved everything about her. 

Adrien's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. Suddenly he couldn't breathe again. 

He. Loved. EVERYTHING. About. Her.

He. Loved. HER.

"Oh no" he said outloud.

"What's wrong, kid?" Plagg asked. 

Adrien tried to catch his breath. "I... I think I'm in love with Marinette."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Well yeah."

"What?" Adrien asked, looking over at him. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew. Why else would you be going over to her house every night? I mean, at first I thought it was so you could get all those desserts. But then I realized that your heart starts beating faster every time you get near her."

Adrien put his hands up to his forehead. "This is a big problem."

"What are you talking about?" Plagg asked. "What's the problem? You're in love with her and she's in love with you."

"The problem, Plagg, is that I'm dating Kagami" Adrien replied. 

"Oh yeah, that is a problem."

Adrien closed his eyes. "I'll have to break up her. I'm such a terrible person."

"You're not a terrible person, you're just in love" Plagg said, flying over to him. 

"You ate all the food, didn't you?" Adrien asked the kwami. 

"Not my fault!"


	13. The Kiss

Adrien tossed and turned for hours, trying to fall asleep. He decided that he had to break up with Kagami as soon as possible. There had to be some amount of time in between breaking up with Kagami and asking out Marinette. Otherwise everyone would think that he was some sort of player. And he knew that Marinette would be disgusted by him. He finally passed out from exhaustion a couple hours before he had to wake up. 

In the morning Adrien got ready like usual and went to school. Marinette was in the courtyard talking with Alya and Nino when he arrived. His heart started pounding as he walked up to her. Her hair was down from her normal pigtails that day. She looked so beautiful.

When he reached her, she turned and gave him a big smile. "Hi Adrien" she said. 

"Hey Marinette" he said breathlessly. 

"Me and Alya are going to head to class now so we'll catch you guys later, okay?" she said. 

"Yeah" Adrien replied, watching the two friends walk away. "Wow, she seems so happy" he sighed to Nino. 

"Well of course she's happy. She just got back together with Luka!" Nino said. 

Adrien's heart stopped. "She what?" he asked desperately. 

"She got back together with Luka. They make a great couple, don't you think?"

Adrien shook his head. This couldn't be happening.

Nino walked off to class. Adrien slowly followed behind. When he got into the classroom he saw Marinette talking excitedly with Alya. She was still smiling ear to ear. He sat down in his seat as Ms. Bustier started teaching. 

Before he knew it the bell was ringing and all the students were standing up to go to their next class. Everyone had left the room, leaving only him and Marinette. She was humming a tune as she packed up her bag. Adrien recognized the song.

He stood up and looked at her. "Marinette?" he asked quietly. 

She met his gaze. "Yes Adrien?"

He tried to speak but no words came out.

She got up and moved right in front of him. "Is something wrong?" 

"Did... did you really get back together with Luka?" he sputtered out. 

Marinette tilted her head slightly to the side. "What are you talking about? I didn't get back with Luka."

Adrien blinked at her. "You didn't?" he asked.

"No, of course not. I'm not in love with him."

"You're not?" he asked, feeling relieved. 

Marinette shook her head. "No. I'm in love with someone else" she said, moving closer to him. 

Adrien held his breath. "Who... who are you in love with?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, moving even closer. "I'm in love with you Adrien."

"You are?" he whispered. 

Marinette nodded. She reached both hands up and put them around his neck, pulling him towards her. Her eyes fluttered closed as she pressed her lips against his. Adrien immediately closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. 

They kissed passionately, with Marinette moving her hands up to his hair and Adrien holding her as tightly as he could. After a minute they broke apart from the kiss, still holding each other. 

Adrien opened his eyes to see Marinette close to him. Her green and black eyes were sparkling. He tried to catch his breath. 

She moved one of her hands and placed it on his cheek. "Adrien" she said, smiling up at him.

Adrien leaned into her hand. "Marinette" he said. He thought his heart was going to burst from happiness. 

Marinette scrunched up her face. "Adrien?" she asked, confused. 

"Marinette" he said lovingly.

Her face scrunched up more. She moved her lips to speak again but it wasn't her voice that came out of her mouth.

It was Plagg's.

"Adrien, wake up!"

Adrien's eyes flew open. For a second he didn't understand what was happening. He was in his bed in his room, his arms wrapped around a pillow. 

"Having a good dream?" Plagg asked, smirking at him. 

Adrien didn't move. He couldn't believe that it had been a dream. It had seemed so real. The sound of her humming 'Non Je Ne Regrette Rien.' The taste of her lips. The feeling of her body pressed up against him. He would give anything to go back to that moment.

He slowly sat up and smoothed out the pillow he had been holding. "I wish this day was over already" he said before getting up.

************************************

Marinette was in the courtyard with Alya and Nino when Adrien arrived, just like in his dream. But her hair wasn't down. It was pulled back into her signature pigtails. 

When he reached her, she turned and gave him a small smile. "Hi Adrien" she said. 

"Mey Harinette" he said.

She tilted her head slightly to the side. "Are... you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine!" he said, a little too loud.

Marinette glanced over at Alya before looking back at Adrien. "That's good I guess."

There was silence between the four friends for a moment before the bell rang. Alya and Marinette started walking to class. 

"Dude, you sure that everything is okay?" Nino asked Adrien as they trailed behind the girls. 

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night" Adrien told him, keeping his eyes on Marinette. 

They all sat in their seats as Ms. Bustier began teaching. Adrien could barely focus on her lesson as memories of his dream kept coming back to him. He tried to resist the urge to turn around and look at Marinette. With great restraint, he only turned three times. She was busy taking notes, however, and didn't seem to notice. 

The bell rang to signal the end of class. This was it, the moment in his dream where Marinette kissed him. Of course it wasn't going to really happen, he knew that. But he still wanted to present her the opportunity, just in case. 

Marinette and Alya had already stood up and were about to leave when he turned around. "Marinette?" he asked. "Could... could I talk to you for a minute?"

Marinette looked over at him but didn't say anything. 

"We're going to get to chemistry, you two catch up with us later, okay?" Alya said, winking at Marinette and leaving with Nino.

"Yes Adrien?" Marinette asked, turning towards him.

He stepped up and moved so he was right in front of her. Her cheeks blushed slightly. "I was just wondering..." he started to say but stopped. Her blue eyes were staring into his. 

"Kiss her" a voice inside his head told him.

"No, don't. You're still technically dating Kagami" another voice argued back.

"She wants you to. You both want to."

"No, it's not the right time."

Adrien stood there while the argument played in his head.

Marinette finally interrupted his thoughts. "Adrien?" she asked, scrunching up her face. 

He snapped back into reality. "Oh, I... I'm sorry. I, er, forgot what I was about to say."

She nodded slowly. "Okay. Well let me know if you remember." She paused for a second. "We should probably get to class."

Adrien nodded back. "Yeah we should."

Marinette moved to the door with Adrien right behind. The two walked in silence all the way to chemistry.


	14. The Airborne Desserts

Adrien was super nervous on the way to Kagami's house. He had never broken up with anyone before. Hopefully she wouldn't be too upset. They had only been dating for a few months, and they didn't even spend that much time together. Besides fencing and band practice, they would see each other maybe once or twice a week. He sighed as his bodyguard pulled up to her house. 

"I won't be long" he told Gorilla, getting out of the car. He went to the gate and rang the doorbell. After a minute the gate buzzed open and he walked up to the front door. Kagami opened it.

"Adrien" she said with a big smile. "I didn't know you were coming over today."

"Hi Kagami" he said. "I came by to talk to you about something."

"Of course, come on in" she said, stepping aside to let him enter.

He stepped inside and turned around to face her. "Look, Kagami..." he said hesitantly. "You're a really great girl and I really like hanging out with you..." He paused for a second. The smile was fading from her lips. He felt horrible, but he couldn't stop now. "But I think that maybe it's best if we broke up."

Kagami didn't say anything. Adrien could see tears coming to her eyes. He continued talking. "This is nothing against you, you're great. It's just that I... I'm..."

"You're in love with someone else" she said for him.

He nodded slightly. 

Kagami looked away, trying to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. She remained silent for a moment before looking back at him. "I understand" she said. 

Adrien stared at her. Was that it? "Are... are you going to be okay?" he asked. 

"I'll be fine. I mean, I'm obviously not happy about this but I guess that's life. Sometimes things don't work out."

"I'm really sorry Kagami" he said slowly. 

"Me too" she said, looking away again. 

"If it's okay, I'm going to go now."

She nodded. "Goodbye Adrien" she said, opening the door for him. 

"Bye Kagami" he replied before leaving. She shut the door behind him. 

Adrien got back in his car and breathed a sigh of relief. That had sucked, but she had taken the news surprisingly well. He hated hurting her like that but it had to be done. They weren't right for each other, he had always felt that. And now he knew why. Because he was meant to be with Marinette. 

************************************

Now Adrien had to get the word out that he and Kagami broke up. The sooner everyone knew, the sooner he could ask Marinette out. Luckily the perfect opportunity presented itself that evening before he went to visit her. 

He received a text from Nino asking about their homework. 

Nino: Hey, what did you get for #9 on the physics homework? I don't understand this stuff at all dude.

Adrien: I haven't even started it yet. I just got home from Kagami's. We broke up. 

Nino: No way!! I'm sorry man. 

Adrien: Thanks Nino. I'll see you at school tomorrow. 

Well, that took care of that. Adrien waited a little while longer, then transformed and left for Marinette's. 

She was standing at the railing of her balcony when he arrived. She reached up to sweep the bangs out of her eyes as she turned around to see him. Everything that had happened that day was worth it to see her standing there. 

"Hey" she said cheerfully, walking towards him. "I thought we could hang out here. It's so beautiful tonight."

He nodded. "Beautiful" he agreed, but he wasn't commenting about the weather. 

"I made some meringue kisses."

"Kisses?" Chat Noir asked. He couldn't believe the coincidence. 

"Yeah" she replied. "Like small pieces of meringue. You don't like them?"

"No, no, no it's not that. I definitely like kiss... I mean, meringue" he insisted. 

"Well help yourself" Marinette said, placing the plates of treats on the floor and sitting down against the railing. 

Chat Noir sat against the railing across from her so the plate was in between them. He grabbed a couple of pieces. "So how was your day today?" he asked.

"Oh it was fine" she replied. "What about yours?"

"It was fine. So... um, nothing unusual happened today?" he asked again. 

"No, nothing. Just a normal day."

"Oh" he said, disappointed. He was hoping that she had already heard about the break up. "How was the catering event last night with your parents?"

"It was really great! And I didn't even drop any trays this time" she said with a smile. 

Chat Noir chuckled. "You should be very proud of yourself." He tossed a meringue kiss into the air and caught it in his mouth. "Wow, these are tasty." He tossed another one up and caught it.

"You're really good at that" Marinette said, laughing. "Does the suit give you better hand-eye... I mean, mouth-eye coordination?"

"It does, but this happens to be one of my own hidden talents" he told her. He tossed another and caught it. "Try it, it's easy."

"Okay, I'll try. But don't laugh at me when I miss!" She tossed one up and tried to catch it in her mouth, but instead it bounced off her cheek. "See! I told you!"

Chat Noir chuckled again. "That was super close though. You just need to practice more."

She tossed another one. It hit her nose. "I'm a lost cause" she joked, rubbing the spot where it hit her.

"Oh come on, Princess. You're not even trying!" he teased.

Marinette gasped like she was offended. "I am trying!" She picked up a meringue kiss and threw it at him. He caught it in his mouth and grinned at her. "Show off" she muttered. 

He laughed again. "Come on, keep practicing. Here, I'll help you." He picked one up and tossed it towards her.

She tried to catch it but it hit her other cheek. "I'm never going to get this" she groaned. She tossed one to him. He tossed one back, which hit her top lip. "Almost!" she said excitedly. 

They kept taking turns. Chat Noir caught every single one that was thrown his way. After a minute Marinette finally caught one. "I did it!" she exclaimed. 

"Way to go Princess. I knew you had it in you!" They kept taking turns until there were only two pieces left. "Ready for the bonus round?" he asked. "Let's try it at the same time."

She nodded. "On three. One... two... three!" They both tossed their piece towards the other. And they both caught them. Marinette raised her arms in victory. "We're awesome" she said. 

Chat Noir smiled at her. "Yeah, we are."


	15. The News

Chat Noir and Marinette stayed on her balcony talking for a long time. They didn't realize how late it was until Marinette started shivering from the cold night air.

"It must be getting late" she said reaching for her back pocket where she usually kept her phone. It wasn't there. "Wait a second, where's my phone?" she muttered to herself, looking around. "I must have left it in my room." She mentally slapped herself. Hopefully she hadn't missed any akuma alerts. "Do you want to come in for a while?" she asked Chat Noir. 

"I'd love to" he replied, getting up and following her inside.

Marinette went straight to her desk where her phone was laying and picked it up. Her face twisted in confusion at looking at it.

"Is something wrong?" Chat Noir asked at seeing her expression. 

"It's my friend Alya. She's called me eleven times since we've been outside."

He had a feeling that he knew what the calls had been about. 

"Would you mind if I called her back. I want to make sure that she's okay" Marinette said. 

"No, I don't mind. Do you want me to leave?" he asked. 

"No, don't leave. I'm sure it's nothing. She's always overreacting about stuff. I'll be quick" she told him. She pressed a button on her phone and put it up to her ear.

Within seconds Chat Noir could hear Alya screaming through the phone. "Marinette, where have you been girl?"

Marinette moved the phone away from her ear at hearing the loud scream. "Alya!" she replied, putting the phone back. "Are you trying to make me deaf?"

"Why haven't you been answering your phone?" Alya demanded. 

"I was busy" the blunette replied, smiling over at Chat Noir. "So why were you calling anyway?"

"You are never going to guess what happened!" Alya said. 

"Probably not. Just tell me" Marinette said, hoping to end the conversation quickly. 

"Adrien and Kagami broke up!"

Marinette froze. She must have heard her friend wrong. "What?" she asked. 

"They! Broke! Up!" Alya yelled through the phone. 

"They broke up?" Marinette repeated, in shock. 

"Yeah girl. Nino said that Adrien told him earlier today."

"Wh... why did they break up?"

"I don't know. I guess he didn't go into any details" Alya said. 

Chat Noir had been watching Marinette as she talked on the phone. He felt a little bad about being there and overhearing their conversation. But he was also relieved that she had gotten the news already.

Marinette put her hand to her chest. "I don't believe it. This is... horrible."

Chat Noir was not expecting that reaction. She sounded... upset?

"Are you crazy?" Alya asked her. "What are you talking about?"

"This is horrible" Marinette continued. "They seemed so happy together. Kagami must be heartbroken. And Adrien must be heartbroken. What in the world happened?"

"I don't know, but are you serious right now?" the redhead demanded.

Marinette was about to respond when she looked over at Chat Noir. She had almost forgotten that he was there. "Alya, I... I have to go. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Tomorrow?" Alya asked incredulously. 

"I have to go" Marinette said again before hanging up. She dropped her hand that was holding the phone to her side. "I'm sorry about that" she said quietly to Chat Noir. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, moving towards her. 

She shook her head slightly. "Two of my friends broke up. I... I can't believe it."

"I'm sure they're fine" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. 

"I don't think so. They were so in love with each other. I don't understand why they would break up, this makes no sense."

He could see tears welling up in her eyes. "Please don't be upset Princess" he pleaded with her. 

"I'm sorry. I just remember how awful I felt when me and Luka broke up, and I wasn't even in love with him. I can't imagine how they must be feeling right now."

Chat Noir pulled her into a hug. He didn't think that she would be so distraught. He had expected her to be happy. But he should have known better. Of course Marinette would be upset, her loving heart only knew compassion. She would never delight in someone else's unhappiness. 

Marinette leaned into his hug. "It's so sad. I mean, if two people who love each other can't make it work, then what chance do the rest of us have?"

He pulled back so he could look in her eyes. "Marinette, everything is going to be okay. You believe me when I tell you that, right?"

She nodded slowly and hugged him again. "Will you stay here tonight?" she whispered. 

"Yes, I will."

She pulled away from the hug. "Thank you. I'll go get changed."

After a few minutes Marinette came back in her pajamas. Chat Noir was already on the chaise. She switched off the lights and made her way over to him. "Come with me" she said, reaching out her hand. He grabbed it and she guided him up the steps to her bed. "You'll be more comfortable here."

"Are you sure that you're okay with this?" he asked hesitantly. 

"Yeah, I'm sure. You'll get better rest here." She climbed into her bed and Chat Noir quickly followed. They rested on their sides facing each other. "Goodnight" she said, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight Princess."

They stayed like that for a while. Not able to fall asleep, Marinette sighed and shifted to lie on her back. After another minute she turned her head to look over at Chat Noir. His eyes were closed. She turned onto her side again and scooted right up to him.

Feeling her move, he slid his arm under her neck and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her closer. She tilted her forehead into his neck and he nuzzled his face into her hair. It smelled so good, like strawberries. He breathed in the scent as he slowly fell asleep.


	16. The Attack of the Girls

"Chat Noir?"

He opened his eyes to the sound of Marinette saying his name. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, her hand gently shaking him awake. Those blue eyes of hers were bright and shining. "It's morning."

Chat Noir sat up slightly. "Good morning Princess" he said, smiling at her. 

"How did you sleep?" she asked. 

"Very well" he replied. 

"Before you go, I just wanted to apologize for last night" she said, looking down. "I was upset about my friends and I want you to know that I wasn't trying to make a move on you or anything like that."

Chat Noir stared at her. Why was she apologizing?

She continued. "So I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable..."

"No Marinette" he interrupted. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I had a great time with you."

She looked back at him. "Oh, okay. Well I'm glad that you're not mad at me."

He sat up fully so he was next to her. "You know that I could never be mad at you Princess."

She put one hand up to his cheek and smiled. "You're sweet" she said rubbing her thumb against his skin. Suddenly she remembered what day it was. "Oh, I need to get ready for school, and you need to get going!"

"Would it be alright if I come over later?" Chat Noir asked. 

Marinette nodded. "Of course."

He waited one more second, cherishing the moment with her, before he got up and left. 

************************************

Adrien arrived to school, excited to see Marinette again. His excitement quickly disappeared, however, upon entering the building.

The news of his break up had already been circulated to the entire student body. He wasn't five steps into the courtyard before girls started coming up to him to express their 'sympathies.'

All he wanted was to go talk to Marinette, but he couldn't get anywhere near her. She was with Alya and Nino like usual. Nino tried to wave him over but he was unable to escape from the crowd of female students around him. 

He was relieved when the bell rang and he had an excuse to get away. Finally he could talk to his actual friends.

Reaching the doorway of the classroom, he was greeted by a shrill "Adrikins!" Chloé Bourgeois quickly ran over and threw her arms around him. "My poor baby, I heard what that horrible girl did to you!" She tried kissing his face but he squirmed away from her. 

"Er, it's okay Chloé, I'm fine" he said, pulling away from her grasp. 

"Oh Adrikins" she said, hooking her arm around his and walking him into the room. "Now that you're done with what's-her-face, we can finally be together. Just like we were meant to be!"

"Chloé, get off of me" he said, pulling his arm away. "We're not getting together."

"I know you don't mean that" she said, swinging her hair. "You're just hurting right now. It's okay, I'll be right here for you when you're ready." With that she turned and went to her seat.

Adrien sighed and sat down next to Nino.

"Hey dude, how are you holding up?" his best friend asked him.

"I'm fine" he replied. He turned to look at the girl sitting behind him. Unfortunately Ms. Bustier started talking before he got the chance to say anything. At least he got to look into those blue eyes for a moment before he had to turn back. 

Adrien waited for the end of class. As soon as it was over, however, he found himself face to face with Lila Rossi. "Hi Adrien" she said, batting her eyelashes at him. 

His face dropped, he couldn't stand Lila. "Oh, hi" he mumbled out. He saw Marinette, Alya and Nino leaving out of the corner of his eye. 

"I heard about what happened. I went through an awful break up myself so I know exactly how you feel" she said. "If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me. I'm a really good listener."

"Thanks" he mumbled, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. 

She leaned in close to him. "Whenever you need me, Adrien, I'll be here."

"I need to go Lila" he said, quickly moving away. He gave an involuntary shutter as he walked out of the room. 

Adrien didn't get an opportunity to speak with Marinette all day. It seemed like every time he turned around there was another girl throwing herself at him. But he was determined to talk to Marinette before school was done. 

When their last class ended, Adrien quickly spun around. "Hey Marinette, hey Alya."

"Hey Adrien, I'm sorry to hear about you and Kagami" Alya said.

"Thanks" he replied before looking at Marinette. She remained silent. 

"Well, we should get going Nino, or we're going to be late!" Alya said. 

Nino looked at her confused. "Late for what?"

"You know, the thing" she said, standing up and moving to him.

"What thing?" Nino asked.

Alya grabbed his shoulder and squeezed, causing him to yelp in pain. "I'll tell you when we get there" she said through gritted teeth. 

Nino's eyes went wide. "Oh right! The thing! I almost forgot about the thing!" He turned towards Adrien. "You two stay here. Me and Alya need to go to a thing. It's legit."

Alya squeezed his shoulder again. 

"Okay" he yelled, standing up. "We're going to the thing now." They scurried out of the room. 

"Well, that was super convincing" Marinette deadpanned once she and Adrien were alone. He laughed. She joined in too until she made eye contact with him. "Sorry" she muttered, looking down. 

They were silent for a few seconds. 

"And I'm sorry to hear about you and Kagami" Marinette said, not looking at him as she put her books away. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay" he replied. 

"Are you sure? I mean, I know how much you were in love with her."

Adrien shook his head. "Kagami's great, but I was never in love with her."

This caused Marinette to finally look up at him. "You weren't?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"No." He was caught up in those beautiful eyes again. 

She paused. "But you said..." She was interrupted by her phone buzzing. Grabbing it from her purse, she checked the message. 

Adrien waited for her to finish the sentence, but she didn't. "I said... what?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's not important" she replied, putting the phone away. "I have to go. My parents need me to help them out in the bakery."

'Don't go' he thought. It was so nice talking to her as Adrien. 

"I'll see you tomorrow" she said, standing up and walking to the door. 

"Bye" he said weakly as he watched her leave. He stayed in place until he heard his phone.


	17. The Bout

Thanks to the akuma attack, Adrien was half an hour late to his fencing lesson. 

His teacher, Mr. D'Argencourt, was not pleased. "So kind of you to show up Mr. Agreste" he commented as Adrien hurried to join the group.

"Sorry" he muttered as he took his place.

His first bout was against his ex-girlfriend. "Hi Kagami" he said hesitantly before they started. 

"Hi Adrien" she said.

"How are you?" he asked.

They lowered their masks and raised their sabres into position as Mr. D'Argencourt announced "En garde!" 

"I'm doing okay" she answered. 

"Pret!" Mr. D'Argencourt called.

They lunged when they heard "Allez!" Adrien got the first hit.

"How are you?" she asked, getting into position again. 

"I'm fine" he replied, before lunging again. He got the second hit.

They got ready again. "Have you asked Marinette out yet?" she asked before the next lunge. Kagami easily got the hit.

"Wh... why do you think it's Marinette?" he asked, going back to position. 

Kagami got the hit. "Don't be ridiculous Adrien. I've seen the way you look at her."

They hit simultaneously.

"No, I haven't asked her out yet." He got the hit.

"Well don't wait too long. Marinette's a great girl." Kagami got the hit.

"Yeah, I know" he said. He got a hit.

"Luka is an idiot for breaking up with her" she said. Adrien got a hit.

She continued. "You better hope he doesn't realize that before you get your chance." She got the hit.

"Halte!" Mr. D'Argencourt called, ending the bout.

They lifted up their masks so they could see each other. "Nice job Adrien" Kagami said before moving to the next one.

************************************

Marinette was working on her dress when Chat Noir arrived. She was busy at her sewing machine, creating the skirt. He munched on oatmeal raisin cookies while he watched her from the chaise. Her hands moved so gracefully as she slid the fabric through the machine. 

"What do you think?" she asked him, holding up the skirt when she was done with the seam.

"It's amazing" he gushed, causing her to smile.

She stood up and moved the skirt to the floor so she could step into it. Then she pulled it up around her jeans to her waist and held it in position. "It seems like it's a good length."

Chat Noir was entranced as she twirled, the skirt flowing around her. "Amazing" he repeated. 

She smiled over at him again before stepping out of the skirt and putting it on her desk. "Alright, well that's done. Now I just need to finish the embroidery on the bodice and put it all together. I can't believe I'm almost finished with it. I thought it would take forever!"

"You're so talented" he said as she grabbed a cookie from the tray and sat down next to him.

Marinette giggled. "That's sweet of you to say." She leaned her shoulder against his and took a bite of the cookie. "Hmm, I think the chocolate chip ones are better" she murmured. 

"I think they're great" Chat Noir said. 

She laughed. "You think everything is great!"

"No, not everything. Just all the food from your bakery, and you of course."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, well it's time for bed. Do you want to stay?"

"You know I do, Princess" he purred.

Marinette laughed again and went to her bathroom to change. When she was back she gestured up to her loft. "You coming?"

Chat Noir jumped up and ascended the steps two at a time. 

"I guess that's a yes" she chuckled as she switched off the lights and made her way up.

He was already in his spot, so she climbed in next to him. "Goodnight" she said. 

"Goodnight" he replied. 

She lay there for a moment, then opened her eyes to look at him. 

"Come on Princess" he said, extending his arms out towards her.

She scooted over and tucked her head under his chin as he wrapped her up. Closing her eyes, she sighed. 

"Oh, I almost forgot" she said suddenly, pulling her head back a little. "I won't be home tomorrow night so don't bother coming by."

"You won't be home?" he asked, disappointed. 

"No, I have to go over to Luka's."

Chat Noir's heart sank. "Wh... why are you going there?" He tried to keep his voice even.

"The band has a performance at a concert this Friday night and I have to make their costumes. We're all going there tomorrow after school to do a dress rehearsal, and it's probably going to take all evening. I won't get home until late."

Chat Noir thought back to the last band practice. Luka had mentioned the concert to him. There was no way that Adrien's father would allow him to go, so there was no point in going to the rehearsal. 

"Oh, that's too bad" Chat Noir said to Marinette. She rested her head back down. All of the happiness that he had been feeling was gone now. 

The words that Kagami said replayed in his mind. "Luka is an idiot for breaking up with her. You better hope that he doesn't realize that before you get your chance."

They wouldn't get back together. Luka knows that Marinette is in love with Adrien. Plus, she would never agree to date him again, not after all the pain he put her through. 

Everything was going to be fine. She would go over to Luka's tomorrow, get the costumes done, and then go home. Nothing's going to happen. Absolutely nothing. And eventually Adrien will ask Marinette out and they'll finally be together. Everything will be as it should. 

These thoughts raced through his mind as he lay next to Marinette. He could tell that she had fallen asleep, her breathing was soft and rhythmic. He pressed a kiss against her head. She loved Adrien, not Luka.

He had nothing to worry about. 

But just in case, he would stop by Luka's tomorrow and make sure.


	18. The Jealous Cat

Adrien saw Marinette leave school the next day with the other band members. He wished that his father would have given him permission to perform on Friday night. Then he would be going to the dress rehearsal too and he could keep a closer eye on Marinette. Not that he didn't trust her. It was Luka that he didn't trust. 

He went home, had his piano lesson, and ate dinner. As soon as he was in his room he went over to his mini fridge and got a piece of Camembert for Plagg.

"I thought Marinette wasn't going to be home tonight" the kwami said. 

"She won't be, I'm just going to stop by Luka's and check on her" Adrien told him.

"I don't know, kid. Don't you think that's a bit much?"

"No" he replied. "Marinette is a beautiful sweet girl. I don't want anyone taking advantage of her."

Plagg sighed. "Just promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

"I promise. Plagg, claws out!"

He transformed and left for Luka's houseboat. Landing on a building across the street, Chat Noir locked his eyes on Marinette. She was fixing the shoulder of Rose's costume. He sat on the edge of the roof and watched them.

After she was done helping Rose, Marinette made her way around to the other band members. She seemed to have the most trouble with Ivan's outfit. Eventually she reached Luka. Chat Noir narrowed his eyes as he watched their interaction. At one point Luka said something and Marinette laughed. 

Okay, she was laughing way too much. Luka wasn't that funny.

Then she reached up and readjusted the mask on his face. That was a ridiculous mask. No wait, Marinette had designed it. Actually it was wonderful. It was Luka's face that was throwing everything off.

Her hands were lingering a little bit too long for his liking. That was it, he needed to get down there. 

Chat Noir scaled down the side of the building and detransformed once he hit the ground. 

"What are you doing?" Plagg asked. "I thought you were just going to check on her!"

"I'm not done checking" Adrien argued. 

With a groan Plagg disappeared into Adrien's shirt. He ran across the street and onto the houseboat. 

"Adrien! We didn't think you were coming" Rose said.

"Oh yeah, my father actually changed his mind and I can go to the concert tomorrow" Adrien said. It was a total lie, but he needed some excuse to be there.

"So awesome" Juleka said.

"Yeah man, that's great" Luka said. 

Ivan nodded at him and Rose squealed in excitement. 

"I'm sorry but I guess you'll have to make one more costume" Adrien said, walking over to Marinette. 

"I think I can handle it" she replied, smiling at him. 

"Well, I'm all yours" he said. 

"Just a minute, I have to finish this one up first" she said, turning back to Luka. 

Luka raised his eyebrows and glanced over at Adrien before looking back at Marinette. She continued fixing the strap of his mask.

Adrien's face fell as he watched her with Luka. He wanted those hands of hers to be moving around him. Disappointed, he walked over to the keyboard and turned it on. He was going to start playing one of the band's songs, but then he thought of sometimes else. His fingers moved over the keys.

Marinette froze for a second at hearing the melody. She turned her head to look at Adrien and her arms lowered down to her sides. Luka watched her as she walked over to him. 

"Is that 'Non Je Ne Regrette Rien?'" she asked once she reached the keyboard. 

He looked up at her. "Yes it is. I love this song."

She smiled at him. "Me too."

Adrien got caught in those beautiful eyes again and hit the wrong key.

Marinette chuckled. "It seems like you need a little more practice" she teased.

"Yeah I guess so" he said quietly.

"Alright, why don't all of you keep practicing, and I'll go start on your costume, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

Marinette walked over to the spot where all her materials were and started digging through the pile.

The band practiced a couple of songs. At one point Marinette went up to Adrien to have him try a mask on. 

"Hold this up and I'll measure for the strap" she told him.

Adrien pressed the mask to his face. Marinette wrapped the measuring tape around his head. "I got it" she said grabbing the mask and returning to her work space.

She came back a few minutes later. "Here, try it on."

He quickly put the mask on his face and looked at her. 

"I think that will work." She reached her hands up to grab it, but stopped. She tilted her head slightly to the side.

"What?" he asked. 

A small smile crossed her lips. "Nothing. You just remind me of someone." She slid the mask off of his head and went back to her station.

While the band ran through the rest of the songs, Marinette managed to find enough extra pieces to make a complete ensemble for Adrien. It was late by the time they were done with the rehearsal. Ivan and Rose had already gone home.

"Thanks so much for the help Marinette, we'd be lost without you" Luka said as they finished packing everything up. 

"It's no problem. I'm sure you guys will do great tomorrow night. It sounds really good" she said. 

"The concert starts at six and we'll be one of the first bands playing, so make sure you get there early."

"Oh actually, I won't be able to make it tomorrow" she said. 

"What?" Adrien asked. "Why not?"

She turned towards him. "I'm sorry, I already have plans." She turned back to Luka. "You guys will be fine without me. The costumes are done, there's nothing more for me to do."

"It won't be the same without you there Marinette" Juleka told her. 

"Are you sure you can't make it?" Luka asked.

Marinette groaned. "Fine! I'll stop by real quick but then I have to leave." 

"Awesome" Juleka said, hugging her friend. 

"Alright, I'll see you all tomorrow. I'm going to head out" Marinette said.

"I'll walk you home" Luka told her.

Adrien glared over at him. Why was he offering to walk her home? That was a boyfriend thing to do.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that" Marinette said, earning a smile from the blond.

"No, I want to. It's dark out, I want to make sure that you get home safe" Luka insisted. 

Adriens face fell. Luka was right. It was too late for a pretty girl like her to be walking around by herself. Ugh, why had he snuck out? If his bodyguard were there he could have offered to give her a ride home.

"I've lived in Paris my whole life, I'll be fine. Plus, I'm sure Chat Noir or Ladybug would save me if anything happens" Marinette said.

Adrien couldn't help but smile again.

"Okay" Luka said. "But text me when you get home."

"I will" she promised. "See you guys tomorrow." She started walking home. Little did she know that a certain cat followed her from the rooftops, making sure she got home safely.


	19. The Concert

The next evening after dinner Adrien snuck out again. But he wasn't going to Marinette's. This time he was sneaking out to go to the concert. After all, he told the band he would be there. More importantly, Marinette had spent so much time making his costume. There was no way that he was going to disappoint her by not showing up. 

He arrived a couple of minutes before six o'clock and found the rest of the band backstage. They were already dressed so Adrien hurried to put on his costume. 

Kitty Section was second on the concert line-up so they only had to wait about twenty minutes before they went on stage. 

Adrien quickly scanned the crowd as he got into place behind the keyboard. The bright lights made it difficult to see but he was able to spot the beautiful blunette. She was in the third row sitting next to Alya. Nino, Mylene, and Alix were also there.

He gave her a huge smile when he made eye contact with her. She responded by smiling back and giving him a thumbs up.

The audience gave a loud round of applause as the band started playing.

In the middle of the third song Adrien saw Marinette stand up and leave the seating area. He watched for her to come back, but she never returned. 

When their set was over, he quickly took off his costume and made his way to the audience. He took the seat that Marinette was originally in. "Hey" he said to Alya.

"Hey Adrien, fantastic job up there" she said back. 

"Thanks. I could have sworn that I saw Marinette here earlier" he said, trying to act nonchalant.

"Yeah, she was here but she had to leave" the redhead replied. 

"Oh, that's too bad" he said turning his attention to the stage. After a minute he turned back to Alya. "She didn't happen to say why she had to leave, did she?"

Alya turned to fully face him and raised her eyebrows. "She just said that she had a prior commitment."

"Oh okay" he said, frowning. Where could she possibly have gone? Most of her friends were here. And she usually didn't go out at night. She was usually at home in her room waiting for...

Adrien felt his stomach twist. She was usually waiting for Chat Noir, for him. Was that why she had to leave early? To get back home for him? Maybe, maybe not. But he wouldn't keep her waiting if she was.

"I'm going to head out too, my father doesn't want me out too late" he said to Alya.

"Uh huh" she murmured, unconvinced.

Adrien left the crowd and jogged down the street until he found a darkened alleyway. "Plagg, claws out!" he said, transforming. Chat Noir pulled out his baton and took off for Marinette's house. 

As he got close he saw that her lights were on. He landed with a thump on the roof and jumped down to the balcony. He thought he was going to cry when he heard the hatch open.

"Chat Noir!" Marinette exclaimed. "I was worried that I wouldn't see you tonight. I thought that maybe you came by earlier and I wasn't home yet."

"I'm so sorry that I'm late Princess" he said, climbing inside. He wrapped her up with a big hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too" she replied. After a minute she leaned back from the hug. "Now come on, these madeleines aren't going to eat themselves!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the steps. 

"So how did the rehearsal go last night?" Chat Noir asked once they each got a pastry. 

"It was a long day, but it went well. And the concert was great, I got back home right before you arrived."

"How many bands were there?" he asked. 

"Well, I only saw the first two so I'm not sure how many were there all together" she told him. 

"I hope you didn't leave early just to see me."

"That might have been the reason" she admitted with a sly smile. "But I don't mind. I couldn't leave my hungry stray to fend for himself yet again, now could I?" she teased.

Chat Noir gazed at her. She had called him 'hers.' He wanted to lean in and kiss her right then. "What would I ever do without you Princess?"

Marinette chuckled. "I don't know, probably have to buy your own treats."

He laughed. "Anything but that!" he said dramatically. 

She laughed again. "Alright, so what do you want to do tonight?" she asked him as she finished her madeleine. 

There were several things that Chat Noir wanted to do with Marinette, but nothing that he could say outloud. Ugh, why did he have to wait to ask her out? He was getting super impatient. 

"If it's okay with you, I'd really like to just lie down and talk. You can tell me all about the costumes that you made for the band."

"That sounds wonderful" she said smiling. "I'll go change."

Chat Noir went up to her bed while she changed. He lay down in his spot and looked at the collage of pictures on the wall. It had been a while since he had really paid attention to them. They were different. There used to be a good amount of pictures of Adrien hanging up, but those were gone. In fact, it took him a full minute to find himself at all. He was only in one group shot.

Now over the last couple of weeks, he had noticed that the pictures of Adrien on the wall around her desk had disappeared. It made sense, why keep pictures of the person who broke your heart on your wall? Although he understood it, it still made him upset. 

"Lights on or off?" Marinette called to him when she came out of the bathroom. 

"Off is fine" he replied. 

She switched off the lights and joined him.

They talked for hours. There was no school the next day so neither of them felt like going to sleep. In the early morning hours they finally closed their eyes. But Chat Noir still didn't want to sleep. 

"Marinette?" he whispered, peeking over at her.

She didn't respond. 

He reached over and brushed the hair away from her face. She stirred slightly and turned to her other side. Moving closer, he wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled his face into her hair. If there was anything better than this moment, Chat Noir didn't know it.


	20. The Moments

Over the next several days, Chat Noir stayed at Marinette's house every night. Waking up next to her on Thursday morning, he decided that it was time. Adrien was going to ask her out. 

He was so excited on the way to school. That day would be the day. He would tell Marinette that he was in love with her, and they would be together. 

Marinette looked as beautiful as ever. Adrien couldn't help but have a goofy smile on his face as he walked up to her in the courtyard. Unfortunately, Alya and Nino were also there like usual.

All day long he waited for the perfect opportunity to talk to Marinette, but she was constantly around other people. Not that he cared about other people knowing, but this was a private moment for the two of them.

Their last class was almost over and he hadn't made his move yet. He couldn't wait one more day, today had to be it.

As soon as the bell rang he spun around and looked at her. "Marinette, could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. 

The blunette seemed surprised. "Of course" she replied. "I'll catch up to you later" she said to her best friend. Alya smirked and left without saying a word.

Adrien slowly packed up his things, waiting for everyone else to leave the room. Then he stood and moved up to her.

"So what's going on?" she asked, standing in front of him. 

"Marinette, I..." he started to say. His heart was racing and he felt like he couldn't get enough air. "I, uh..."

She tilted her head slightly. "Are you okay?" she asked. 

"Yeah, I'm fi... fine. I mean, I'm great" he sputtered out. "I just..."

He reached over and grabbed her hand, moving it up between them. Then he clasped his other hand on top. Her eyes grew wide as he stepped closer. "Marinette... I..." He was getting lost in those blue orbs of hers.

Moving even closer, they were only inches away from each other. He glanced down at her cheeks. They weren't red. In fact, she wasn't blushing at all. 

"Adrien, what's wrong?" She wasn't stuttering, she hadn't been in weeks.

Adrien's heart sank. The thing he feared the most had happened. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "I, uh... I wanted to know if I could, uh... borrow your physics notes" he finally said.

Marinette stared at him for a moment and then exhaled, her demeanor relaxing. "Oh, of course." She pulled her hand away from him and reached into her backpack. "Here you go" she said, holding the notebook out.

"Thanks" he mumbled. 

"It's no problem" she replied. "I mean, what are friends for?"

He didn't respond. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach. 

"Are you sure that there's nothing wrong Adrien?"

He nodded his head. "I'm sure" he croaked out.

Marinette smiled slightly. "Okay, well I'm going to leave. I have to meet up with Alya."

"Okay" he said, watching her walk out of the classroom. He slowly sank down into her seat when she was gone.

Plagg flew out of his shirt and up to his face. "What are you doing? Why didn't you ask her out?"

"Her face, Plagg. She didn't blush when we got close. Marinette's not in love with me anymore."

************************************

Adrien couldn't eat at dinner that evening. He just pushed the food around his plate as Nathalie droned on about his upcoming schedule.

He had waited too long. Marinette had already moved on from her crush. He couldn't believe that he had had a beautiful, sweet, wonderful girl in love with him, and he blew it. Now he would be nothing more than a friend to her, suffering the same fate that she had received.

Once back in his room, Plagg flew up to him. "Are you going to visit Marinette tonight?" he asked. 

"I don't think so" Adrien said, lying down in his bed. "It's going to hurt too much to see her knowing that we'll never be together."

"But she's expecting you to be there."

Adrien just groaned in response. 

"Do you really want to make her upset by not showing up?" Plagg asked. 

Adrien looked over at him. "You know I don't want to do that."

"Well it seems like you have no other option then."

He sighed. "Fine. We'll stop by real quick and leave. Plagg, claws out" he said unenthusiastically.

************************************

Marinette was in her room cutting one last thread off the bottom of the dress.

"I can't believe it, Tikki. I'm finally done."

"It looks wonderful" the kwami said, flying around in circles.

"It came out even better than I was hoping" Marinette gushed. "Chat Noir is going to be so excited!"

Suddenly there was a thump from the ceiling.

"Speak of the devil" she said, smiling. "Go hide Tikki!"

She ran up the steps to her loft and opened the hatch. "Chat Noir, you won't believe it. I finally..." she stopped at seeing him. 

He was standing at the railing looking out over the city, facing away from her.

"Chat Noir?" she asked, climbing out to the balcony and walking up next to him.

"Hey Marinette" he said quietly, not turning around. 

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. 

"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired today." He still didn't look at her.

"Oh, okay. Well I have some profiteroles for us to eat tonight" she said, hoping that would cheer him up.

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry."

Marinette blinked. Something had to be seriously wrong for him to be refusing food.

He continued talking. "If it's alright with you, I'm just going to go home and get to bed."

She nodded even though he wasn't looking at her. "Okay" she said quietly. She paused for a minute. "Will you... come by tomorrow? I have a surprise for you."

He sighed. "I'll see if I can make it" he said, taking a step away. "Have a good night."

Marinette grabbed his hand before he could leave. "Chat Noir?"

He finally turned to look at her.

She pushed up on her tiptoes and leaned towards him, pressing her lips against his cheek.

He closed his eyes, cherishing the moment. Before he was ready for it to end, he felt her lips leave his skin. When he opened his eyes Marinette was right in front of him. 

"I, uh... I hope you feel better" she said as a blush crept it's way onto her face. 

Chat Noir noticed the blushing immediately. It was quite possibly the greatest thing that he had ever seen. He put his hand up to her face and moved slightly closer to her. "I'm sure I will" he said, rubbing his thumb across her pink cheek.

She leaned into his hand, the pink hue darkening. "So you'll stop by tomorrow then?" she asked hopefully. 

He nodded. "Yes, I promise." 

The smile returned to her face. "Okay."

"Okay" he repeated, smiling.

Neither of them moved for a minute, both enjoying the moment together. 

"I guess I should go" Chat Noir said quietly. 

Marinette nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." He slowly moved away and took off with his baton.


	21. The Attempted Set-Up

Chat Noir detransformed as soon as he landed in his room. 

"I can't believe it, Plagg" he said excitedly. "Marinette is in love with me, I mean, with Chat Noir!"

Plagg groaned. "I can't keep track of you two anymore."

Adrien continued, ignoring his kwami. "I can't believe it. Marinette fell out of love with me only to fall in love with me!"

"Congratulations" Plagg said. "But how are you supposed to date her as Chat Noir? You can't exactly take her out to the movies."

"I know, I know, this will make things a little more complicated, but eventually I'll have to tell her who I am, and then we'll be together in real life. Plus, I don't care about going to the movies. As long as I'm with Marinette, I don't care what we do. We can stay inside her room and talk every night."

"Then why ask her out at all? Just keep things the way they are now."

Adrien sighed. "You don't understand anything about love." 

"Of course I understand love. I love Camembert, I love Brie, I love Roquefort..."

Adrien shook his head and walked away as his kwami continued talking. He plopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, unable to get the smile off of his face. "Tomorrow is going to be the best day ever."

************************************

Once again, Adrien didn't sleep well that night. Not only was he preoccupied with thoughts of Marinette, but he also felt uncomfortable in his bed. It was amazing, he had gotten used to sleeping next to her in such a short amount of time. He missed her warm presence.

A big smile was on his face as he woke up Friday morning. He quickly got ready and ran to breakfast where he ravenously ate his food. After all, he hadn't eaten anything the night before. 

The first thing he did when he got to school was run up to Marinette.

"Thanks again for letting me borrow this" he said, handing her notebook back. "It was really helpful."

"You're welcome" she said with a smile. 

"I still can't believe that he just wanted to borrow your notebook yesterday" Alya whispered to Marinette as they walked ahead of the boys to class. 

"What did you think was going to happen?" Marinette whispered back.

"I don't know. That he would finally confess his undying love to you?" the redhead whispered.

"Oh please, Alya. Don't make me laugh."

"Come on, girl. Open your eyes. He totally digs you!"

Marinette chuckled and took her seat. She watched as Adrien sat down in front of her. Once seated he turned around and gave her a huge smile. "Good luck on the quiz today Marinette" he said. 

"You too" she replied. 

He turned back when Ms. Bustier started speaking. Marinette didn't dare look over at the girl sitting next to her. 

************************************

When the school day ended the four friends made their way outside. 

"So what are you up to this weekend?" Alya asked Marinette. 

"Oh, uh nothing really" she responded casually. 

"Great! Because me and Nino are going to see a movie tonight. Why don't you come with us?" Alya turned to Adrien. "Adrien, why don't you come too?"

"Uh actually, I can't tonight" Marinette said quickly. 

Alya glared at her. "You just said that you had nothing going on!"

"I know, I'm sorry. But I... already have plans" she admitted. 

Alya grabbed her by the shoulder and walked her away from the boys. "What is going on with you lately?" she asked when they were out of earshot. "You're completely in love with Adrien, but now that he's single and interested in you, you start making up excuses to stay away from him."

"Alya" Marinette protested. "I'm not in love with him anymore, and I'm not making this up. I do have plans tonight."

"Well, what are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm... meeting someone."

Alya's eyes grew wide and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, girl. You're serious! You are over Adrien because you're dating someone else! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Alya, stop. It's not like that. We just hang out together. We're not dating."

"But you want to be" Alya said, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Marinette sighed. "Nothing's going to happen between us. It's complicated."

"That's because you're always making things complicated when they don't have to be. If you love him then just tell him. You don't want another 'Adrien' situation, do you?"

"No" the blunette said, looking down at her feet. 

"Well then, you have to tell him before it's too late" Alya said. 

Marinette put both her hands over her face. "Ugh, I know."

Alya put her arm around her shoulder. "You got this, girl. And if things don't work out, you'll always have Adrien as a backup!"

"You're incorrigible" Marinette said, as Alya guided her back to the boys.

"It seems like the movie is canceled for tonight" Alya announced when the four friends were back together. "Marinette is busy so we'll have to plan something another time."

"That's okay" Adrien said. "I couldn't make it anyway."

"Me and you can still go tonight, babe" Nino said. 

"You're right" his girlfriend replied, moving next to him. She planted a kiss on his cheek. "Alright, bye guys" she said as the couple left together, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone.

Adrien smiled at her. She smiled back. "So I'll see you at practice tomorrow?" he asked. 

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Awesome." He paused for a second. "Well, have a great night" he said, walking towards the waiting car. 

"Bye" Marinette said.

Tikki popped out of her purse when the car drove away. "We need to go Marinette. You need to get baking if the croissants will be ready by the time Chat Noir arrives."

"You're right Tikki!" she replied, taking off towards her house.


	22. The Surprise

Marinette worked down in the bakery right up until dinner was ready. She quickly ate her meal then rushed up to her room to shower. Afterwards, she got ready for Chat Noir's visit. 

She promised him a surprise, and he was going to get one. Stepping into the middle of the fabric, Marinette pulled the dress up around her body. Tikki was kind enough to zip the back up for her. She left her hair down, forgoing her usual pigtails. 

"What do you think Tikki?" she asked, looking at her reflection in her floor length mirror. 

"You look absolutely beautiful Marinette!" the kwami gushed. 

"Thanks" she replied, smiling at her reflection. "Chat Noir is going to be completely shocked when he sees me." She paused momentarily, imagining his reaction. She couldn't wait to see that smile of his. "Well, he should be here any minute. You stay here, I'm going to wait for him out on the balcony."

"Good luck" Tikki said, hugging Marinette's cheek. 

************************************

Adrien was at his house finishing his dinner in the dining room. After taking the last bite, he pushed his chair back and stood up. "Well, I'm going to my room. Have a good night" he said to Nathalie, who was standing along the wall like usual. 

"What are you talking about Adrien?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "You have to get ready for the event."

"Wh... what event?" he asked, confused. 

"Your father's charity event. I told you all about it yesterday during dinner."

Adrien blinked at her. He had been so preoccupied by his thoughts that he hadn't paid any attention to what Nathalie had told him yesterday. "Uh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot. Would it be okay if I skip it this time? I'm really tired today."

"Absolutely not Adrien" she replied, clearly annoyed. "This is one of the biggest events of the year for your father. You have to go."

Adrien couldn't believe the bad timing. Why did it have to be tonight of all nights?

Nathalie continued talking. "Now hurry up and get ready. We're leaving in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" he repeated. In a panic Adrien hurried off to his room and slammed the door shut behind him. "This is a nightmare Plagg" he said as the kwami popped out of his shirt. "I had no idea that I had an event tonight."

"What are you going to do?" Plagg asked. "You promised Marinette that you would visit her. She's expecting you to be there soon."

"I know. And there's not enough time to go see her first." Adrien put his hands up to his head. "I have no choice. I'll have to go to the event and try to leave as early as possible. Then I can go see her afterwards." He groaned and closed his eyes. "Ugh, why does it have to be tonight?"

Adrien went to his bathroom for a quick shower and then went to his closet. He changed into the black suit that he wore for special occasions. Then he ran downstairs to the waiting car. 

"I'm really not feeling well tonight, would it be okay if we left the event early?" Adrien asked Nathalie as they got into the car.

"We'll see" is all she replied, taking her seat.

Adrien leaned his arm against the window as Gorilla started driving. He felt horrible. He should have been on his way to see Marinette. Instead, he was stuck going to another one of his father's events where he would be shown off like some sort of trophy, the famous model, the perfect son.

His father loved him on some level, Adrien knew that, but he would never love him unconditionally. Not like Marinette did. She loved him for him, not some image he had to project to the world. She had managed to fall in love with the two sides of him; the reserved, well-mannered Adrien, and the goofy, free-spirit Chat Noir. Nothing filled his heart with happiness more than knowing that Marinette accepted, and loved, both parts of him. 

He sighed and glanced out the window. His heart rate picked up when he realized which way they were traveling. They would soon be driving right past Marinette's house. Adrien undid his seat belt and slid over to the other side of the car, pressing himself against the window. He stopped breathing when he saw her standing on her balcony. 

Marinette was leaning against the railing, looking out over the city. She was wearing her dress, the dress that he had helped her create. Her hair was down around her shoulders, moving slightly in the wind. Adrien didn't think that she could have possibly gotten any more beautiful than she looked everyday, yet here she was, proving him wrong. She was absolutely stunning, the glow on her face radiating into the night.

Within seconds they had driven past her house and Adrien couldn't see her anymore. He sat back in his seat with a sigh. His heart sank as he rebuckled his seat belt. She was waiting for him, and he wasn't there for her. 'I'm so sorry Princess' he thought as they continued on their way to the event.


	23. The Event

The Gabriel Agreste Foundation Triannual Charity Event was taking place in downtown Paris. The city's most distinguished citizens always attended. Adrien couldn't stand going.

Pulling up to the building, Adrien got out of the car to make his way down the red carpet. There were plenty of news outlets and photographers there to take everyone's pictures as they walked inside. 

He had done this a million times before. Smile and wave for the cameras. It's the same at every event. He wasn't sure that his smile was convincing though, all he could think about was how Marinette was waiting for him. There was no way that things could get any worse. 

"Adrikins!"

He was wrong. 

Chloé Bourgeois ran up to him and tried to kiss his cheek. He expertly dodged her lips.

"Look at us!" she announced, hooking her arm around his. "We totally seem like a couple!"

"Get off of me, Chloé" he said, pulling away from her. "We're not a couple, and we never will be."

"Oh, don't be shy Adrikins. Now smile so we can get a good picture together." She turned towards the cameras and put her hand on her hip. 

Adrien was about to object but he saw Nathalie glaring at him from the corner of his eye. He couldn't afford to anger her, so he plastered a fake smile on his face and posed. After a few minutes, they finally got inside the building. 

************************************

Marinette sighed as she stood at the railing. She went over and checked the time on her phone.

Tikki came up next to her. "Still no sign of him?" she asked. 

"No, not yet" Marinette replied. "He's usually here by now."

"There haven't been any akuma attacks, have there?"

"No, there's nothing going on." She put her phone down and walked back to the railing. "He probably just got delayed with something. I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

************************************

Adrien sat down at his table. Unfortunately, Chloé was assigned the seat next to him. He leaned over to Nathalie, who was on his other side. "Can we leave soon? I'm really not feeling well" he whispered. 

"No Adrien. Your father hasn't even given his speech yet. We'll leave after the important stuff is over."

He sulked in his chair. Now he was stuck listening to Chloé go on and on about her outfit and how expensive it was. 

When most of the guests had taken their seats, Mayor Bourgeois went up to the microphone on the stage. He thanked everyone for being there and introduced Gabriel Agreste, who appeared on the screen behind him. 

Adrien watched his father give his speech. He spoke for about twenty minutes. When he finished, Adrien looked over at Nathalie, who shook her head. 

Mayor Bourgeois then introduced the next speaker. After she spoke, he introduced another one. After he spoke, Mayor Bourgeois announced that they would start the auction.

Adrien once again looked over at Nathalie. And once again she shook her head. 

************************************

Marinette sat in the lounge chair on her balcony. Tikki was there too, keeping her company. She checked her phone again, but there were no alerts. 

"Still nothing?" the kwami asked. 

"Nothing" Marinette said. She sighed and rested her elbows on her knees. "I'm sure he's on his way."

************************************

Adrien was in agony. The minutes ticked by as he watched item after item be auctioned off.

Chloé bid and won on three of the items, a designer handbag, two front row tickets to see Jagged Stone, and a weekend getaway to Corsica. "You'll have to come with me" she said, winking at Adrien after winning the trip. He just rolled his eyes at her. 

"The next item we have," Mayor Bourgeois said, "is a collection of first edition sketches that were drawn and signed by Gabriel Agreste himself..."

Adrien perked up immediately at hearing the description. He leaned over to Nathalie. "Am I allowed to bid on any of the items?" he asked her. 

"Let me ask your father" she replied, typing into her tablet. After a moment she said "Your father says that you can spend up to ten thousand euros."

"We'll start the bidding at five hundred euros" Mayor Bourgeois said.

"Ten thousand" Adrien yelled out, standing up and raising his hand. Nathalie looked at him, flabbergasted. The crowd around them murmured to each other. 

"Thank you very much Mr. Agreste" the Mayor said. "Do I hear eleven?"

No one countered.

"Ten thousand euros going once... going twice... sold! Congratulations Mr. Agreste."

The audience applauded loudly and Adrien sat back down.

Nathalie leaned towards him. "You know that you probably could have won that with a lot less money and used the rest to bid on something else."

"That's the only item I want" he told her. Actually, it was the only item that a certain blunette would want.

************************************

It was late. The night air was getting colder and colder. Marinette stood up from her seat and walked over to the railing, looking over the city one more time. "I guess he's not coming tonight" she said quietly. 

"I'm so sorry" Tikki said, floating up next to her. 

"It's okay, Tikki. Something really important must have come up. Otherwise, I know he would have been here." They were both silent for a minute. "Come on, let's go to bed."

************************************

"And that concludes the auction. Thank you very much to all of our generous bidders" Mayor Bourgeois said to a round of applause. "Now, we'll open the dance floor."

Adrien looked over at Nathalie yet again. 

"Alright" she said, nodding. "We can leave."

The words were barely out of her mouth when Adrien stood up and hurried towards the door. "Bye Chloé" he said as he ran by.

"Adrikins, don't you want to dance?" she shouted after him.

Nathalie stood up and walked towards the door, hearing "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!" as she left the ballroom.

Adrien was already in the car when she got outside. She climbed into her seat and nodded at Gorilla. 

It took about ten minutes to reach Marinette's. Adrien pressed himself against the window when they got close. 'Please be there, please be there' he kept thinking.

Happiness washed over him when he looked up at the balcony. Her lights were still on, she was waiting for him.

The feeling quickly vanished, however, as he watched the lights turn off. Sitting back in his seat, he put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry Marinette" he whispered. 

Within minutes they were back home. Adrien slowly got out of the car and walked up the steps to the house.

"Goodnight Adrien" Nathalie said. 

"Goodnight" he mumbled back.

He trudged up the stairs and went into his room. Plagg popped out in front of him. "Are you going to visit Marinette?" he asked gently. 

"It's too late, Plagg. She's probably asleep by now. I don't want to wake her up." Adrien wiped his eyes and went into his bathroom. 

"This is why I stick to cheese" Plagg muttered to himself.

************************************

Marinette lay in her bed staring up at the hatch above her. After a minute, she turned to lie on her side.

At the same time a few blocks over, Adrien lay in his bed on his side. He turned and stared up at the ceiling.


	24. The Confession

The band was on their fourth song by the time Marinette showed up to practice Saturday morning. She looked exhausted. Adrien looked, and felt, the exact same way. He watched as she sat down next to Alya, who started whispering to her. Marinette responded by shaking her head and whispering back. Alya then wrapped her up in a hug. 

As soon as the band was done, Adrien ran over to the girls. He caught the very end of Alya's sentence to Marinette. "... then it's his loss."

"Hey Marinette, hey Alya" Adrien said stopping next to them.

"Hey Adrien, great job like usual" Alya said. 

Marinette remained silent. 

He turned towards her. "Are you okay Marinette? You seem upset."

"Oh, I'm just tired. I was up late last night so I didn't get much sleep."

Alya looked at her friend sympathetically.

"I'm sorry" Adrien said. He wished that he could tell her exactly how sorry he was. But that had to wait. "Do you two have any plans for today?"

"What did you have in mind?" Alya asked, glancing over at Marinette. 

"I thought that maybe we could go to the park and hang out for awhile."

"I don't think I'm going to go" Marinette said. "But you guys have fun."

"What are you talking about?" Alya asked incredulously. 

"I don't feel like going out today. I just want to go home and rest."

Adrien felt horrible. "Oh, that's too bad" he said disappointed. He was about to suggest another day when Luka came over to join them.

"Hi guys, how's everything going?" Luka asked the group. 

"We're doing okay" Alya said.

"That's good." He turned towards Marinette. "Hey Marinette, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

Both Adrien and Alya quickly looked at her. She seemed surprised by his request. "Uh, okay" she said hesitantly. 

"Come with me." Luka grabbed her hand and guided her away.

Alya looked over at Adrien's worried expression. "I'm sure it's nothing important" she said, although she wasn't entirely convinced.

Luka led Marinette away from the group. Then he turned to face her. "Marinette, I wanted to say that I'm really sorry about everything that happened between us. I know I hurt you when we broke up."

Marinette shook her head. "Oh no, Luka. You don't have to apologize..."

"Yes I do. You're an awesome girl and you didn't deserve that" he continued. 

"Seriously, I'm okay" she insisted. 

Luka smiled softly. "I'm glad that you're okay."

Marinette nodded at him and smiled.

He took a step towards her. "I also wanted to say that I miss you, Marinette."

Her smile faltered a little. "You do?" she asked quietly. 

He nodded and moved closer. "Yeah I do, and I've been thinking... I think that I made a mistake when I broke up with you." He reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling it up between them. Marinette looked down at their hands, then back up at him. She couldn't believe what was happening.

On the other side of the houseboat Adrien and Alya watched in surprise. "I guess something is going on" Alya mumbled.

Adrien wasn't breathing. He couldn't believe what was happening. 

"Hey dudes!" Nino said, coming over to them. 

"Shhhh!!" Alya said, waving her hand in his face. 

Nino followed her gaze and gasped. "No way! Are Marinette and Luka getting back to..." he started to say before Alya clamped her hand over his mouth. The three continued watching the scene.

Luka was still talking. "Look, I know that you're not in love with me, and that's okay. I mean, it's obvious that you've finally gotten over Adrien."

Marinette nodded. "I have."

"Great!" Luka exclaimed. "So, now maybe there's a spot in your heart for me." He reached over and cupped her face with his other hand. "I love you, Marinette. I want us to be together. And I promise, I won't ever hurt you again."

Marinette stared up at him. Too many thoughts were racing through her mind. 

Should she give Luka another chance? He loved her. He was a good person and she trusted him. But she wasn't in love with him. The vacant spot left in her heart after Adrien left it had already been filled by someone else. 

Chat Noir. The sweet, caring superhero who had somehow become her best friend. The one she would look forward to seeing everyday. The one she would fall asleep next to. The one she would spend her time thinking about. 

But he wasn't there last night. He promised that he would be, and yet he never showed up. There were no akuma attacks. There were no urgent matters that needed attending to. He wasn't there.

Maybe she had freaked him out when she kissed his cheek the night before. Maybe he had realized that she was in love with him, and now he was trying to distance himself away from her. She could have sworn that he felt something for her too, but maybe she just imagined it. Maybe she wanted it to be true, so she saw something that wasn't really there. 

Maybe he was coming by every night to get away from his house. He never kept it secret that he didn't have the greatest home life. Did he just need a place to stay? A place that he could get some food and a decent night's sleep? 

Or maybe he just needed a friend? Someone he could talk to? Someone who could distract him from Ladybug? 

All these thoughts came to her simultaneously, then suddenly her mind cleared.

Luka would be there for her.

She had gotten over Adrien, someday she would get over Chat Noir too.

Marinette looked up into Luka's aqua blue eyes. They were gorgeous. 

But all she wanted to see was a pair of green cat eyes looking back at her. 

Then she knew.

"Luka, I... I think that you were right the first time. I think that it's best if we're just friends" she said. 

His face fell. "You do?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He dropped his hand down to his side. "Are... are you sure, Marinette?"

"I'm sure." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "You're going to be okay, Luka. Someday you're going to find someone who will love you just as much as you love her. Because you don't deserve anything less than that."

He looked at her. "I'm sorry Marinette."

"No, don't be sorry" she said gently. 

They stared at each other for a few more moments before Marinette spoke again. "I'm going to go."

Luka nodded. "Okay." He watched her as she walked away. 

Marinette made her way back over to the group. When she looked up at them Alya suddenly spun around, Nino looked down at his sneakers, and Adrien put his hand to the back of his head and looked upwards. Marinette rolled her eyes. 

"Everyone enjoying the show?" she asked when she reached them. 

"What? Wh... what do you mean?" Alya sputtered. 

Marinette sighed. "Alright, I'm leaving."

"Wait!" Alya said. "So... did something happen with Luka?"

Marinette blinked at her. "Of course not" she replied. 

"Oh, well that's a shame" Alya said, trying to keep the smile off of her face. "Isn't that terrible, Adrien?"

"Oh, er, yes! Absolutely terrible." Adrien said, shaking his head. 

Marinette rolled her eyes again. "Anyway, I'm leaving. I need to get home to bake something. See you guys at school." She waved and left for her house.

"Well, that was a close call" Alya said once she was gone. "Anyone who is in love with Marinette should be counting their lucky stars right now." 

Nino looked at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"

She groaned and put her palm to her forehead. "Nothing. Let's just go."

The couple left, hand-in-hand. Adrien watched them as they moved further away. He wanted what they had. And he couldn't wait anymore.


	25. The Love Square

Marinette was sitting at her desk sketching in her notebook when she heard the thump coming from the ceiling. She looked over at Tikki as tears started coming to her eyes. 

The hatch opened up, causing the kwami to fly off and disappear. "Marinette?" Chat Noir called, jumping down to her bed. 

"Chat Noir" she said, standing up and moving towards him. They met at the bottom of the steps, instantly embracing each other. Marinette put her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. They held on for a full minute before breaking apart. 

"I am so sorry Princess" Chat Noir said, cupping her face with his hands. "Please forgive me."

Her cheeks reddened. "Don't be sorry. I'm just so glad that you're okay." She sighed happily and closed her eyes. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. I always miss you when I'm not with you" he said softly. 

She opened her eyes. "You do?" she whispered. 

Chat Noir nodded. "I'm in love with you Marinette."

Her eyes widened as the tears started coming back. She tilted her head slightly to the side. "I'm in love with you too."

He smiled, trying to hold back his own tears. He moved his hand up and slowly brushed the bangs out of her eyes. "Okay if I kiss you now?" he asked quietly. 

Marinette nodded. "Yes."

Chat Noir gently pulled her face towards him and kissed her. He lowered his arms and wrapped them around her. She put her hands around the back of his head and into his hair. The kiss was even better than in his dream. 

When they parted they stayed close, gazing into each other's eyes. Chat Noir thought back to the past few months. All of the waiting had been worth it. He couldn't remember ever feeling happier than he was feeling right now. 

Suddenly Marinette's face dropped and she moved away from him. "Chat Noir, I, uh..."

Wait, what was happening? He tried stepping towards her but she took a step back. 

"Before anything else happens, I need to tell you something" she said, looking down. 

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter..." he tried to tell her but she interrupted him.

"No, it does matter. I should have told you a long time ago, but I was scared. I didn't want you to hate me."

Chat Noir shook his head. "I could never hate you Princess." He tried moving towards her again, but she stepped back. 

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you" she continued. "Please just promise me that you won't leave until I get the chance to explain."

"I promise" he said. 

She nodded her head and looked up, attempting to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. Then she said the words.

"Tikki spots on."

Her kwami was sucked into her earring and she transformed into Ladybug. She kept her eyes on the ceiling as the tears started falling. "I'm sorry" she whispered. 

Chat Noir almost passed out from shock. Marinette was Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette. The girl he used to love was the same person that he currently loved.

Ladybug continued talking. "I wanted to tell you so many times. I should have told you, but I didn't. I was too afraid, too afraid to lose you. You're just so wonderful, and I... I love you so much."

She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. "I'm sorry, I just... I didn't want there to be any more secrets between us" she said, finally looking at him. 

Chat Noir walked up to her. "There won't be" he said, putting his hand on her face. "Claws in."

She gasped as he detransformed and Adrien stood where Chat Noir had been a second ago. She immediately stepped back away from his reach and clamped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. 

For a minute neither of them said anything. Ladybug looked between Adrien and Plagg, who had appeared once the transformation was called off. 

"Hey Marinette" Plagg finally said, breaking the silence. 

Ladybug didn't respond. 

Adrien stepped forward. "Marinette, I'm sorry."

She shook her head and moved her hands away from her mouth. "Adrien?" she asked, barely at a whisper. 

"I love you so much. Please don't be upset. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before either." He continued stepping towards her. "Please Marinette." When he reached her he put his hand back to her face.

"That's not possible" she whispered. "We saved you."

"It's me... it's always been me" he replied.

She stared up at him and put her hand over his. "Adrien" she said, a pink hue coloring the area around her mask. 

Adrien smiled. "There's my girl" he said, gazing into her eyes. 

A smile crossed her lips as he leaned in towards her. Ladybug closed her eyes as Adrien pressed his lips against hers. She put her hands back in his hair. It felt the same as Chat Noir's. 

"Well" Plagg said after a minute, interrupting the two. They broke apart and looked at him. "I hate to ruin this romantic moment, but I'm starving! You don't happen to have any Camembert, do you Marinette?"

Ladybug laughed. "I'm sure we do. Spots off" she said, detransforming into Marinette. "You don't mind showing Plagg where the cheese is, do you?" she asked Tikki.

"Not at all!" the kwami replied. "Nice to see you again Adrien."

"Nice to see you too Tikki" he said. 

"Come on, Sugarcube" Plagg said, dragging Tikki away with him.

"Don't call me that!" she protested as they disappeared through the floor.

"Wow, you are really going to regret showing Plagg where you keep the Camembert" Adrien told Marinette once they were alone. 

"A small price to pay to get you here" she replied, smiling at him. 

He leaned back in and kissed her again, pulling her even closer. 

************************************

It was a clear night. Adrien, Marinette and their kwamis were sitting on the floor of the balcony, splitting a tray of croissants. Adrien had his arm around Marinette's shoulder, their backs up against the railing. 

Marinette sighed. "I still can't believe this. I mean, the idea that the famous model Adrien Agreste has been jumping around rooftops in a skin-tight cat costume for the last year and a half just blows my mind" she said, smirking at him.

"Hey!" he replied, pretending to be offended. "I have it on good authority that you love my skin-tight cat costume."

"You might be right, but it's still weird" she said laughing. She reached over and put her hand on the side of his face, turning his head towards hers. "I'm happy that it's you."

He was about to kiss her again when there was a loud explosion behind them. They both turned around to look over the city. Smoke was billowing out of a building in the distance and flashes of light lit up the area. Adrien and Marinette turned back to look at each other. 

"Plagg, claws out!"

"Tikki, spots on!"

They said simultaneously, transforming into Chat Noir and Ladybug. 

Chat Noir stood up and reached down, pulling Ladybug to her feet with his hand. "What do you think, Princess? Are you ready to go?"

"I was born ready" she replied. 

"How about one more kiss, you know, for good luck?" he asked. 

"With you by my side, I don't need luck."

Chat Noir frowned, his cat ears drooping. 

Ladybug continued. "But I'll take the kiss anyway." With that she wrapped her hands around Chat Noir's neck and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. 

She smiled at him when they separated. "I'll race you there, my Kitty" she said, grabbing her yo-yo and swinging away.

Chat Noir swooned. "I love when she calls me that" he said before taking his baton and jumping off into the night.

The End.


End file.
